Investigations of wear particles and selected cytokines in human osteoarthritic knee joints.

Inflammation of the synovial membrane (synovitis) is considered to drive the process that leads to osteoarthritis. However, the relationships between the mediators of inflammation and the properties of wear particles are not fully understood. In this study, the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were assessed in different grades of osteoarthritis to determine whether their concentrations in the synovial fluid correlate with specific characteristics of wear particles. This study has found that the size, adhesion and nano-surface roughness of wear particles have medium strong to strong correlations with IL-6 and IL-8. This study provided evidence that the characteristics of wear particles contain valuable information for grading the disease process and the need for further evaluation of the association of properties of wear particles and the inflammatory process.