Static and Dynamic Plantar Pressure Distribution in 94 Patients with Different Stages of Unilateral Knee Osteoarthritis Using the Footscan® Platform System: An Observational Study.

BACKGROUND Plantar pressure analysis is widely used in the study of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The present study aimed to investigate the static and dynamic plantar pressure distribution in patients with different stages of unilateral KOA using the Footscan® platform system. MATERIAL AND METHODS We recruited 94 patients aged 61.75±7.23 years old with different stages of unilateral KOA for static and dynamic analysis using the Footscan® platform system. The static pressure (%) of the left, right, anterior, posterior, and the pelvic rotation (°) was assessed. The peak pressure (PP, kPa) was investigated in 10 areas of the foot: medial heel (MH), lateral heel (LH), midfoot (MF), first to fifth metatarsals (M1-M5), hallux (T1), and toes 2-5 (T2-5). The correlation between KOA stages and plantar pressure distributions was investigated. RESULTS The results revealed that static pressure on the unaffected side and pelvic rotation were positively correlated with KOA stages. In addition, there was a positive correlation between KOA stages and PP of M5, MF, and LH zones on the affected side and PP of M2, M3, and M4 zones on the unaffected side, and a negative correlation between KOA stages and PP of T1 and T2-5 zones on the affected side. CONCLUSIONS With the progression of KOA, static plantar pressure tends to distributed on the unaffected side, and the dynamic plantar pressure tends to be distributed laterally on both feet. The plantar pressure distributions in unilateral KOA patients are abnormal and are closely related to the severity of KOA.

Interleukin-15 facilitates muscle regeneration through modulation of fibro/adipogenic progenitors.

BACKGROUND: Chronic muscle injury is characteristics of fatty infiltration and fibrosis. Recently, fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) were found to be indispensable for muscular regeneration while were also responsible for fibrosis and fatty infiltration in muscle injury. Many myokines have been proven to regulate the adipose or cell proliferation. Because the fate of FAPs is largely dependent on microenvironment and the regulation of myokines on FAPs is still unclear. We screened the potential myokines and found Interleukin-15 (IL-15) may regulate the fatty infiltration in muscle injury. In this study, we investigated how IL-15 regulated FAPs in muscle injury and the effect on muscle regeneration. METHODS: Cell proliferation assay, western blots, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometric analysis were performed to investigate the effect of IL-15 on proliferation and adipogensis of FAPs. Acute muscle injury was induced by injection of glycerol or cardiotoxin to analyze how IL-15 effected on FAPs in vivo and its function on fatty infiltration or muscle regeneration. RESULTS: We identified that the expression of IL-15 in injured muscle was negatively associated with fatty infiltration. IL-15 can stimulate the proliferation of FAPs and prevent the adipogenesis of FAPs in vitro and in vivo. The growth of FAPs caused by IL-15 was mediated through JAK-STAT pathway. In addition, desert hedgehog pathway may participate in IL-15 inhibiting adipogenesis of FAPs. Our study showed IL-15 can cause the fibrosis after muscle damage and promote the myofiber regeneration. Finally, the expression of IL-15 was positively associated with severity of fibrosis and number of FAPs in patients with chronic rotator cuff tear. CONCLUSIONS: These findings supported the potential role of IL-15 as a modulator on fate of FAPs in injured muscle and as a novel therapy for chronic muscle injury.

The Efficacy of Imrecoxib and Celecoxib in Axial Spondyloarthritis and Their Influence on Serum Dickopff-Related Protein 1 (DKK-1) Levels.

BACKGROUND To observe and demonstrate therapeutic effects and side effects of two selective COX-2 inhibitors, imrecoxib and celecoxib, on patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and observe the correlation between imaging scores and serum DKK-1 levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty patients with axSpA were randomly assigned to receive 200 mg imrecoxib or 200 mg celecoxib twice daily. Fifty-one patients who completed follow-up were included in the study. At baseline, week 4, and week 12, the clinical parameters, inflammatory markers (ESR, CRP), and adverse reactions were recorded. Serum DKK-1 levels were investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Radiographic scores were calculated by sacroiliac joint SPARCC (Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada) score method at baseline serum DKK-1 levels and week 12. RESULTS Patients in the imrecoxib group (n=25) and patients in the celecoxib group (n=26) were improved at week 4. At week 12, all clinical parameters and inflammatory markers were improved in the two groups and the differences was not statistically significant. Serum DKK-1 levels were decreased and the differences were not statistically significant. Serum DKK-1 levels in patients in the imrecoxib group at baseline were negatively correlated with all study parameters, while those in the celecoxib group had correlations with BASFI (r=-0.048, p=0.027) and Schober test (r=0.437, p=0.048), without any correlation with other clinical parameters or inflammatory markers. CONCLUSIONS Patients experienced significant improvement in disease activity, functional parameters, and inflammatory markers when treated with selective COX-2 inhibitors for 12 weeks, and the efficacy of imrecoxib was not inferior to celecoxib. Selective COX-2 inhibitors imrecoxib and celecoxib had no obvious effects on serum DKK-1 levels.

Immuno-PCR for detection of Giardia lamblia cysts in water.

Giardia lamblia cysts at low concentrations were detected in water samples using a highly sensitive immunological-PCR (IPCR) method. Magnetic gold particles were precoated with monoclonal anti-Giardia antibodies, and Giardia lamblia cysts ranging from 1 to 100 cysts were diluted in 500 microL of water. A biotinylated detection antibody bound to the G. lamblia cysts was then linked by a streptavidin bridge to biotinylated Giardia-reporter DNA. After extensive washing, reporter DNA was released by denaturation, transferred to PCR tubes, amplified, electrophoresed, and visualized. An optimized immuno-PCR method detected as little as five G. lamblia cysts. To further evaluate the specificity and the clinical application of this IPCR assay for G. lamblia cysts, Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporidium parvum were also collected and detected by IPCR. The data demonstrated that this monoclonal antibody-based IPCR method is particularly useful for analysis of environmental water samples in which the densities of G. lamblia cysts is very low, and provides a platform capable of rapid screening of samples from drinking water, wells, rivers, lakes, and recreational swimming pools for trace levels of G. lamblia cysts.