gms | German Medical Science

German Congress of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (DKOU 2015)

20.10. - 23.10.2015, Berlin

Articular joint lubricants during osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis display altered levels and molecular species

Meeting Abstract

  • presenting/speaker Marta K. Kosinska - Universität Gießen, Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Labor für Experimentelle Orthopädie, Gießen, Germany
  • Taryn E. Ludwig - University of Calgary, Center for Bioengineering Research and Education, Calgary, Canada
  • Gerhard Liebisch - Universitätsklinik Regensburg, Institut für Klinische Chemie und Laboratoriumsmedizin, Regensburg, Germany
  • Jochen Wilhelm - Universität Giessen, Medizinische Klinik II/IV, Gießen, Germany
  • Bernd A. Ishaque - Universität Gießen, Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Labor für Experimentelle Orthopädie, Gießen, Germany
  • Markus Rickert - Universität Gießen, Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Labor für Experimentelle Orthopädie, Gießen, Germany
  • Tannin A. Schmidt - University of Calgary, Center for Bioengineering Research and Education, Calgary, Canada
  • Juergen Steinmeyer - Universität Gießen, Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Labor für Experimentelle Orthopädie, Gießen, Germany

Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2015). Berlin, 20.-23.10.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. DocGR21-673

doi: 10.3205/15dkou526, urn:nbn:de:0183-15dkou5262

Published: October 5, 2015

© 2015 Kosinska et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Outline

Text

Objectives: Articular joint lubricants, namely hyaluronic acid (HA), lubricin, and phospholipids contribute individually or in combination to the boundary lubrication of cartilage surfaces that is provided by synovial fluid (SF). In our present study we focused on the two widespread joint diseases osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), affecting hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. With use of sophisticated, analytical methods our study aimed to quantify the various molecular weight (MW) forms of HA, lubricin, and all phospholipid species. Notably, we quantified these lubricants for the first time in parallel in SF from cohorts of healthy donors, patients with early (eOA) or late (lOA) stage osteoarthritis, and patients with active RA.

Methods: Cell- and cellular debris-free SF samples from controls, eOA, lOA, and RA were used for this study. HA and lubricin levels were measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify phospholipid species, and fatty acids (FAs) were analyzed by gas chromatography, coupled with mass spectrometry. The MW distribution of HA was determined by horizontal agarose gel electrophoresis followed by densitometry. One way ANOVA and Tukey's honestly significant difference procedure were applied to determine statistically significant differences. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. The present study was approved by the ethical review committee of our Faculty of Medicine.

Results and Conclusion: Compared with control SF, the concentrations of HA and lubricin were lower in eOA, lOA and RA SF, whereas those of phospholipids were higher. Moreover, compared with control SF, the MW distribution of HA shifted towards the lower range of being below 1.1 MDa in eOA, lOA and RA SF. Notably, in eOA SF a positive correlation was observed between the concentrations of HA and lubricin, whereas in lOA the levels of HA and phospholipids correlated positively. Moreover, an increased percentage of degraded HA corresponded to lower levels of lubricin while higher percentages of high-MW HA correlated with increasing concentrations of lubricin. Remarkably, we noted distinct alterations between cohorts with respect to the relative distribution of phospholipid species and the degree of FA saturation and chain lengths of FAs.

Our investigation reports for the first time a comprehensive overview of all articular joint lubricants present in human SF, namely HA, lubricin, and phospholipids. The levels, composition, and MW distribution of these lubricants vary with widespread joint diseases and stage of OA. Thus, our study provides the framework to develop a new optimal compounded medication able to reduce joint destruction by improved lubrication.