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Table 2 Cytokines in the synovial fluid and cartilage tissue

From: Cytokine profiles in the joint depend on pathology, but are different between synovial fluid, cartilage tissue and cultured chondrocytes

Synovial fluid

Cartilage

Cytokines (per ml SF)

Healthy (n= 20)

Defect (n=31)

Osteoarthritis (n= 27)

Pvalue

Cytokines per g tissue

Healthy (n= 9)

Defect (n= 16)

Osteoarthritis (n= 27)

Pvalue

IL-1α (pg/ml)

16 ± 10 (100%)

14 ± 8 (100%)

15 ± 22 (89%)

0.085

IL-1α (pg/g)

5 ± 13 (22%)

366 ± 706 (25%)

183 ± 391 (26%)

0.470

IL-1β (pg/ml)

1 ± 2 (25%)

15 ± 18 (55%)

8 ± 16 (41%)

0.032

IL-1β (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

23 ± 63 (13%)

0 ± 1 (4%)

0.336

IL-4 (pg/ml)

0 ± 0 (0%)

2 ± 3 (32%)

1 ± 4 (15%)

0.026

IL-4 (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

1 ± 2 (13%)

0 ± 1 (7%)

0.261

IL-6a (pg/ml)

64 ± 120 (40%)

261 ± 385 (96%)

396 ± 508 (82%)

<0.001*

IL-6 (pg/g)

1064 ± 3193 (11%)

1473 ± 3162 (19%)

935 ± 2739 (19%)

0.752

IL-7 (pg/ml)

0 ± 0 (0%)

0 ± 0 (0%)

5 ± 28 (4%)

0.459

     

IL-8 (pg/ml)

25 ± 29 (75%)

27 ± 33 (59%)

52 ± 95 (85%)

0.352

IL-8, ng/g

12 ± 20 (67%)

10 ± 30 (31%)

15 ± 44 (48%)

0.442

IL-10 (pg/ml)

1 ± 6 (5%)

0 ± 0 (0%)

9 ± 35 (15%)

0.134

IL-10 (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

812 ± 2113 (13%)

578 ± 1650 (15%)

0.400

IL-13 (pg/ml)

1 ± 2 (5%)

38 ± 41 (64%)

18 ± 40 (33%)

<0.001*

IL-13 (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

799 ± 1641 (25%)

250 ± 648 (15%)

0.121

TNFα (pg/ml)

0 ± 0 (0%)

2 ± 8 (9%)

4 ± 20 (11%)

0.324

TNFα (pg/g)

522 ± 1084 (22%)

3069 ± 4453 (25%)

1733 ± 3212 (30%)

0.467

IFNγ (pg/ml)

47 ± 17 (100%)

68 ± 38 (100%)

51 ± 69 (93%)

0.001*

IFNγ (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

226 ± 848 (13%)

0 ± 0 (0%)

0.101

OSM (pg/ml)

2 ± 7 (5%)

22 ± 46 (64%)

38 ± 121 (22%)

0.001*

OSM (pg/g)

66 ± 108 (44%)

170 ± 241 (38%)

220 ± 424 (37%)

0.786

     

LIF (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

2797 ± 6515 (13%)

3529 ± 10164 (22%)

0.279

     

Adiponectin (μg/g)

12 ± 10 (100%)

57 ± 62 (88%)

19 ± 29 (100%)

0.002

     

Leptin (ng/g)

15 ± 29 (33%)

120 ± 169 (63%)

112 ± 136 (83%)

0.026

     

MCP1 (pg/g)

182 ± 423 (22%)

1336 ± 1711 (50%)

1249 ± 1250 (68%)

0.044

     

RANTES (pg/g)

0 ± 0 (0%)

1225 ± 2163 (31%)

510 ± 1121 (22%)

0.056

     

bFGF (ng/g)

129 ± 335 (44%)

439 ± 691 (69%)

615 ± 719 (74%)

0.055

     

HGF (pg/g)

3171 ± 6757 (56%)

5824 ± 5110 (69%)

2986 ± 3452 (74%)

0.113

     

VEGF (ng/g)

19 ± 11 (100%)

212 ± 149 (88%)

49 ± 28 (100%)

<0.001*

     

IL-1RA (pg/g)

495 ± 1017 (22%)

1856 ± 3172 (25%)

2504 ± 10792 (33%)

0.573

  1. The presence of cytokines was measured in synovial fluid (SF) and cartilage tissue extracts from healthy donors and donors with symptomatic cartilage defects and osteoarthritic donors. Results are represented as mean ± standard deviation (% of samples in which the cytokine was present). Differences in cytokine levels between healthy, cartilage defect and OA donors were determined using the Kruskall–Wallis test (P values shown in table) with post hoc Mann–Whitney U test: synovial fluid ± IL-6: H vs. CD, P <0.001; H vs. OA, P = 0.001; IL-13: H vs. CD, P <0.001; H vs. OA, P = 0.018; CD vs. OA, P = 0.029; IFNγ: H vs. CD, P = 0.008; H vs. OA, P = 0.05; CD vs. OA, P = 0.001; OSM: H vs. CD, P <0.001; CD vs. OA, P = 0.030; tissue ± VEGF: H vs. CD, P <0.001; H vs. OA, P = 0.003; CD vs. OA, P <0.001. bFGF, basic fibroblast growth factor; CD, cartilage defect; H, healthy; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; IFNγ, interferon gamma; IL, interleukin; LIF, leukaemia inhibitory factor; MCP1, monocyte chemotactic factor 1; OA, osteoarthritis; OSM, oncostatin M; RANTES, regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and presumably secreted; TNFα, tumour necrosis factor alpha; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor. *P <0.001. aData published previously [15].