Department of Hand-Foot Surgery, Weifang People's Hospital, Weifang 261041, Shandong, China.
Dis Markers. 2013;35(3):203-6. doi: 10.1155/2013/176278. Epub 2013 Sep 2.
Inflammation plays a crucial role in the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a well-known proinflammatory cytokine.
We aimed at evaluating the relationship between serum IL-15 levels and the severity of pain as well as radiographic progression in patients with knee OA.
Two hundred and twenty-six OA patients and 106 controls were enrolled in this study. The symptomatic/radiological severity of OA was assessed by the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index- (WOMAC-)pain scores/Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grading system. Serum IL-15 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Serum IL-15 levels were significantly higher in OA patients compared with controls. Serum IL-15 levels were independently and positively correlated with WOMAC-pain scores but not KL grades in OA patients.
We demonstrated that increased serum IL-15 levels were independently correlated with self-reported greater pain in knee OA patients. These results suggest that IL-15 might play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of OA related pain and therapeutic interventions by blocking IL-15 signaling pathways to delay the degenerative process of OA related pain which warrants further investigations.
炎症在骨关节炎（OA）的发生和发展中起着至关重要的作用。白细胞介素-15（IL-15）是一种众所周知的促炎细胞因子。
我们旨在评估血清 IL-15 水平与膝骨关节炎患者疼痛严重程度和放射学进展之间的关系。
本研究纳入了 226 例 OA 患者和 106 例对照者。采用西部安大略省麦克马斯特大学骨关节炎指数（WOMAC）疼痛评分/Kellgren-Lawrence（KL）分级系统评估 OA 的症状/放射学严重程度。通过酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）测量血清 IL-15 水平。
与对照组相比，OA 患者的血清 IL-15 水平明显升高。在 OA 患者中，血清 IL-15 水平与 WOMAC 疼痛评分独立且呈正相关，但与 KL 分级无关。
我们证明，OA 患者血清中 IL-15 水平的升高与自我报告的膝关节疼痛程度增加独立相关。这些结果表明，IL-15 可能在 OA 相关疼痛的发病机制中起关键作用，通过阻断 IL-15 信号通路进行治疗干预可能延迟 OA 相关疼痛的退行性过程，值得进一步研究。
