Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, P.R. China.
Scand J Rheumatol. 2022 Sep;51(5):368-373. doi: 10.1080/03009742.2021.1946996. Epub 2021 Sep 13.
Synovial inflammation contributes to cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis (OA) development. Targeting the inflammation process may provide a promising strategy for OA treatment. It has been demonstrated that C1q/tumour necrosis factor-related protein-9 (CTRP9) has immunosuppression capabilities. Thus, we conducted this study to investigate the role of CTRP9 in OA and its therapeutic potential.
The expression level of CTRP9 was quantified in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), serum, and synovial cells (SCs) isolated from OA patients by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between the expression level of CTRP9 and the disease activity of OA was determined. The inflammation-suppressing effects of CTRP9 were assessed in vitro.
The expression level of CTRP9 was increased in the PBMCs and serum of OA compared to healthy controls. The serum level of CTRP9 was found to be positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and visual analogue scale score. In addition, CTRP9 protein suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β, in PBMCs and SCs in vitro. CTRP9 was increased in OA patients and positively correlated with the disease activity. The recombinant CTRP9 had inflammation-suppressing activities in vitro.
CTRP9 may have therapeutic potential for treating OA. Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized as cartilage destruction resulting from synovial inflammation (1-6). According to the clinical symptoms and levels of inflammation, OA has been divided into primary generalized osteoarthritis (PGOA) and erosive inflammatory osteoarthritis (EIOA) (7). The only available treatment for OA is joint replacement. Thus, it is necessary to develop novel and effective therapeutic strategies to treat OA. Because synovial inflammation contributes to OA development, targeting the inflammation process may provide a promising strategy for OA treatment. Previous investigations showed that pro-inflammatory factors promoted OA development (8-10), while anti-inflammatory factors suppressed it (11-14). Thus, we conducted the present study to investigate the role of C1q/tumour necrosis factor-related protein-9 (CTRP9), an anti-inflammatory factor (15), in OA, and its therapeutic potential.
滑膜炎症会导致软骨退化和骨关节炎（OA）的发展。针对炎症过程可能为 OA 的治疗提供一种有前途的策略。已经证明 C1q/肿瘤坏死因子相关蛋白-9（CTRP9）具有免疫抑制能力。因此，我们进行了这项研究，以调查 CTRP9 在 OA 中的作用及其治疗潜力。
通过定量聚合酶链反应和酶联免疫吸附试验定量检测 OA 患者外周血单核细胞（PBMCs）、血清和滑膜细胞（SCs）中 CTRP9 的表达水平。确定 CTRP9 的表达水平与 OA 疾病活动之间的关系。在体外评估 CTRP9 的抗炎作用。
与健康对照组相比，OA 患者的 PBMCs 和血清中 CTRP9 的表达水平增加。发现血清 CTRP9 水平与红细胞沉降率、C 反应蛋白和视觉模拟评分呈正相关。此外，CTRP9 蛋白在体外抑制 PBMCs 和 SCs 中促炎细胞因子的表达，包括肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-6 和白细胞介素-1β。OA 患者的 CTRP9 增加，与疾病活动呈正相关。重组 CTRP9 在体外具有抗炎作用。
CTRP9 可能具有治疗 OA 的潜力。骨关节炎（OA）的特征是滑膜炎症导致的软骨破坏（1-6）。根据临床症状和炎症水平，OA 分为原发性全身性 OA（PGOA）和侵蚀性炎症性 OA（EIOA）（7）。OA 的唯一可用治疗方法是关节置换。因此，有必要开发新的有效的治疗策略来治疗 OA。由于滑膜炎症会导致 OA 的发展，因此针对炎症过程可能为 OA 的治疗提供一种有前途的策略。先前的研究表明，促炎因子促进 OA 的发展（8-10），而抗炎因子抑制其发展（11-14）。因此，我们进行了本研究以调查抗炎因子 C1q/肿瘤坏死因子相关蛋白-9（CTRP9）在 OA 中的作用及其治疗潜力。
