ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2011
Associations between proinflammatory cytokines in the synovial fluid and radiographic grading and pain-related scores in 47 consecutive patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 202 citations in OpenAlex.
- The peripheral neuronal phenotype is important in the pathogenesis of painful human tendinopathy: a systematic review.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2013Pooled it
- Biological aspects of early osteoarthritis.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2012Pooled it
- Safety and immunogenicity of PPV-06, an active anti-IL-6 immunotherapy targeting low-grade inflammation against knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical phase 1 study.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Methylsulfonylmethane Improves Knee Quality of Life in Participants with Mild Knee Pain: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Human synovial fluid interleukin-6, but not type II collagen breakdown, positively correlated with pain after anterior cruciate ligament injury and reconstruction.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2023Trial
- The effect of intra-articular botulinum toxin A on substance P, prostaglandin EBMC veterinary research · 2017Trial
- Cytokine and neuropeptide levels are associated with pain relief in patients with chronically painful total knee arthroplasty: a pilot study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Trial
- Synovial cytokine expression in ankle osteoarthritis depends on age and stage.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2015Trial
- Association between intraarticular cytokine levels and clinical parameters of osteochondritis dissecans in the ankle.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2014Trial
- Biochemical characterization of early osteoarthritis in the ankle.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2014Trial
- Changes in bone marrow lesions in response to weight-loss in obese knee osteoarthritis patients: a prospective cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2013Trial
- Correlation between serum pro inflammatory cytokines and clinical scores of knee osteoarthritic patients using resveratrol as a supplementary therapy with meloxicam.Indian journal of pharmacologyTrial
- Evaluating FABP5 as a Therapeutic Target for Pain Management.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Review
- Evidence for acetylcholinesterase as an early mediator in knee osteoarthritis: insights from synovial fluid analyses.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Synovial transcriptome analysis reveals ShenTong ZhuYu Tang alleviates osteoarthritis by targeting MMP-9 and immune microenvironment.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Production of a risk mitigation matrix and four-grade threshold scale using Cox Regression to predict osteoarthritis development.Open life sciences · 2026Article
- Molecular signaling pathways in osteoarthritis and biomaterials for cartilage regeneration: a review.Bioengineered · 2025Review
- Joint Tissues: Convergence and Divergence of the Pathogenetic Mechanisms of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Synovial fluid as a complex molecular pool contributing to knee osteoarthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2025Review
- Impact of walking exercise intensity on cartilage IL-1, TNF-α, IL-4, MMP-13 and pain threshold in osteoarthritis rat models.Narra J · 2025Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOne of the sources of knee pain in osteoarthritis (OA) is believed to be related to local chronic inflammation of the knee joints, which involves the production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)-6, and nerve growth factor (NGF) in the synovial membrane, and these cytokines are believed to promote pathological OA. In the present study, correlations between proinflammatory cytokines in knee synovial fluid and radiographic changes and functional scores and pain scores among OA patients were examined.
methodsSynovial fluid was harvested from the knees of 47 consecutive OA patients, and the levels of TNFα, IL-6, and NGF were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Osteoarthritic knees were classified using Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grading (1-4). The Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) was used to assess self-reported physical function, pain, and stiffness.
resultsTNFα and IL-6 were detectable in knee synovial, whereas NGF was not. TNFα was not correlated with the KL grade, whereas IL-6 had a significantly negative correlation. We observed differences in the correlations between TNFα and IL-6 with WOMAC scores and their subscales (pain, stiffness, and physical function). TNFα exhibited a significant correlation with the total score and its 3 subscales, whereas IL-6 exhibited a moderately significant negative correlation only with the subscale of stiffness.
conclusionsThe present study demonstrated that the concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines are correlated with KL grades and WOMAC scores in patients with knee OA. Although TNFα did not have a significant correlation with the radiographic grading, it was significantly associated with the WOMAC score. IL-6 had a significant negative correlation with the KL grading, whereas it had only a weakly significant correlation with the subscore of stiffness. The results suggest that these cytokines play a role in the pathogenesis of synovitis in osteoarthritic knees in different ways: TNFα is correlated with pain, whereas IL-6 is correlated with joint function.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.