Increased serum levels and chondrocyte expression of nesfatin-1 in patients with osteoarthritis and its relation with BMI, hsCRP, and IL-18.

BACKGROUND: Adipokines have been proved to relate with osteoarthritis (OA). As a recently discovered adipokine, nesfatin-1 relationship with OA has not been reported.

AIM: To determine the levels of nesfatin-1 in serum and synovial fluid (SF) from patients with and without OA; to examine the correlation between nesfatin-1 levels and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), Type IIA Collagen N Propeptide (PIIANP), and IL-18 (interleukin-18) levels in serum or synovial fluid.

METHODS: Serum and SF were collected from knee OA patients and healthy persons, respectively. Five articular tissues were obtained during TKR for immunohistochemistry (IHC). Nesfatin-1 levels, hsCRP, PIIANP, and IL-18 in serum and SF were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS: Nesfatin-1 gene was expressed in OA-affected articular cartilage. OA serum contained significantly higher levels of nesfatin-1, as compared to serum from healthy controls (P < 0.05), and nesfatin-1 levels in OA serum exceeded those in paired SF samples (P < 0.001). Significant correlation was found between serum nesfatin-1 and hsCRP levels in OA patients (r = 0.593, P = 0.00005) and also synovial nesfatin-1 and IL-18 levels (r = 0.560, P = 0.0017).

CONCLUSION: Nesfatin-1 is present in articular tissues and may contribute to the physiopathologic changes in OA. Nesfatin-1, accompanied with hsCRP and IL-18, could be new molecular makers to speculate OA progression.