Abstract
Purpose: in pathological conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), overproduction of reactive
oxygen species (ROS) may overwhelm the antioxidant defenses of chondrocytes, thus
promoting oxidative stress and cell death. It can be hypothesized that increasing
the antioxidant machinery of chondrocytes may prevent the age-associated progression
of this disease. Growth factors (GFs) play an important role in promoting both the
resolution of inflammatory processes and tissue repair. in view of these considerations,
we set out to investigate the protective effect, against H2O2-induced oxidative cell death, potentially exerted by fluid drained from the joint
postoperatively.
Methods: the present study was conducted in 20 patients diagnosed with bilateral knee osteoarthritis
and treated, between January 2013 and June 2014, with prosthetic knee implantation
on the side more affected by the arthritic process, together with intraoperative placement
of a closed-circuit drainage aspiration system. As a result, 20 different serum samples
were collected from the drained articular fluid, prepared using two different methodologies.
In addition, forty blood serum samples were obtained and prepared: 20 from the surgically
treated patients and 20 from healthy controls. The present work was undertaken to
investigate the potential protective effect of sera obtained from articular fluid
drainage against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in cultured human chondrocytes.
Results: exposure of chondrocytes to hydrogen peroxide elicited a dose-dependent increase
in oxidative stress and chondrocyte cell death, phenomena that were significantly
counteracted by the pre-treatment of cell cultures with sera from articular fluid
drainage.
Conclusions: oxidatively stressed chondrocytes treated with sera obtained from articular fluid
drainage lived longer than those treated with blood serum samples and longer than
untreated ones.
Clinical Relevance: synovial fluids are usually discarded once the drainage reservoir is full; instead
they could benefit the patients from whom they are collected, as they are rich in
growth factors and they may act as antagonists of ROS effects. Accordingly, they could
be used to treat chondropathies, early OA, and mild OA located in other sites.
Key Words
reactive oxygen species - chondrocytes - growth factors - osteoarthritis - knee
