Expressions of interleukin-1β,interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in articular cartilage of children with Kashin-Beck disease

Objective: To investigate the expressions of interleukin-1β(IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α) in cartilage of children with Kashin-Beck disease(KBD) in order to provide a possible mechanism of the disease. Methods: Articular cartilage tissues of 5 KBD children(KBD group) were selected from KBD children autopsy samples keeping in Institute of Endemic Diseases, Medical School of Xi'an Jiaotong University; articular cartilage tissues of 5 normal children(control group) were selected from non-KBD areas of Shaanxi Province, three cases were from accident death children, two cases were the samples of congential malformation of six finger. Expressions of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the cartilage were detected using immunohistochemistry; the cells of articular cartilage were divided into three areas (superficial zone, middle zone and deep zone) to analyze the expressions of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. Results: The expressions of IL-1β in superficial zone, middle zone and deep zone of articular cartilage of KBD group(63.50 ± 7.19, 54.75 ± 5.50, 66.20 ± 9.91) were significandy higher than those of control group (5.75 ±1.26, 0.00 ± 0.00, 0.00 ± 0.00, all P < 0.05). The expression of IL-6 in superficial zone of articular cartilage in KBD group(55.25 ± 6.24) was significandy higher than that of control group (0.00 ± 0.00, P < 0.05). The expressions of TNF-a in all zone of articular cartilage of KBD group(33.25 ± 6.50, 3.75 ± 0.96, 29.80 ± 1.92) were significantly higher than those of control group (3.74 ± 0.82, 0.00 ± 0.00, 0.00 ± 0.00, all P < 0.05), Conclusion: The levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α are up-regulated in articular cartilage of KBD children, suggesting that cytokines may play an important role in matrix degradation in KBD children cartilage.