Correlation between synovial fluid and serum IL-1beta levels after ACL surgery-preliminary report.

The possibility of controlling the harmful intra-articular influence of elevated interleukin (IL)-1beta synovial fluid concentration after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery could be useful. We investigated the correlation between serum and synovial fluid IL-1beta levels following ACL reconstruction. We measured IL-1beta concentration periodically in three synovial fluid and four serum samples in each of 20 patients receiving either autologous conditioned serum (ACS) containing endogenous anti-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1Ra and several growth factors (group A) or placebo (group B). A decrease in IL-1beta synovial fluid concentration appeared to be more pronounced in absolute terms in group A. In eight patients serum IL-1beta was detected on the 6th postoperative day. In four of them whose synovial fluid levels were over 10 pg/ml on the 6th postoperative day, serum IL-1beta was detected on the 10th postoperative day. The results were different in group B. Correlation between serum and synovial fluid IL-1beta appearance persists in patients after ACL surgery and ACS application. This study is an example of ACS influence on the ACL healing process controlling the IL-1beta levels on the basis of the serum IL-1beta detection.

Plasma cytokines as markers of aseptic prosthesis loosening.

The proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta, IL-8, and TNF-alpha play a major role in the process of bone resorption during aseptic loosening of large joint prostheses. These cytokines secreted locally during bone resorption in aseptic loosening may enter peripheral circulation. Increased concentration of IL-1gamma, IL-8, and TNF-alpha in peripheral circulation may indicate aseptic loosening. We determined whether bone resorption could be verified by cytokine presence in plasma. We recruited 50 patients with aseptic prosthesis loosening, 50 with stable prostheses, 50 with osteoarthritis, and 50 healthy individuals. Cytokine levels were determined in plasma by ELISA tests. Patients with prosthesis loosening had higher plasma levels (IL-10, 3.7 +/- 5.5 pg/mL; IL-8, 14.7 +/- 9 pg/mL; TNF-alpha, 32.7 +/-+/- 32.4 pg/mL) than patients with stable prostheses (IL-1beta, 1.5 +/- 2 pg/mL; IL-8, 8.1 +/- 4.7 pg/mL; TNF-alpha, 22.9 +/- 18.7 pg/mL), patients with osteoarthritis (IL-1beta, 0.7 +/- 1.1 pg/mL; IL-8, 5.8 +/- 3.8 pg/mL; TNF-alpha, 9.8 +/- 7.7 pg/mL) and healthy individuals (IL-1beta, 0.7 +/- 1.1 pg/mL; IL-8, 4.2 +/- 1.3 pg/mL; TNF-alpha, 3.9 +/- 3.9 pg/mL). Our data suggest elevated plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines may be useful as markers of bone resorption in the laboratory diagnosis of prosthesis loosening.

Frequency of HPA-15a and HPA-15b (Gov a/b) human platelet alloantigens in the Croatian population.

BACKGROUND: Human platelet antigen (HPA) genotyping is important for epidemiological studies because the prevalence of particular HPA allotypes differs among various populations and plays a major role in the occurrence of HPA alloimmunization. In Caucasians, antibodies to HPA-1a are the most important causes of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NATP). Recent studies suggest that anti-HPA 15a/15b (Gov b, Gov a) might be the most likely candidate antibodies following anti-HPA-1a in inducing NATP. METHODS: In the present study, HPA-15 system genotype was determined by PCR-SSP method in 279 unrelated subjects from the Croatian population, yielding an HPA-15a and HPA-15b frequency of 0.53 and 0.47, respectively. RESULTS: Retrograde testing for the presence of anti-HPA-15 antibodies by use of MAIPA in 39 frozen serum samples from serologically negative cases of clinically suspect NATP produced negative results. CONCLUSION: The clinical role of anti-HPA-15 alloantibodies was unable to be confirmed.