The influence of platelet-rich fibrin combined with hydroxychloroquine on the inflammatory response; bone metabolism; and cell differentiation ability in temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to explore the regulatory effects of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) on serum inflammatory response, bone metabolic balance and cell differentiation ability in patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) at the molecular level.

METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly divided into Group A and Group B (30 cases in each group). Group A was treated with meloxicam dispersible combined with hydrox-ychloroquine sulfate (HCQ); Group B was supplemented with autologous PRF intra-articular injection on the basis of Group A. Fasting venous blood was collected before treat-ment and 3 months after treatment. Inflammatory and bone metabolism markers such as IL-ip, IL-6, TNF-a, OPG, OPN, ALP and Runx2 were detected by e L iSA, and coagulation indicators such as A PTT and PT were deter-mined by an automatic coagulation analyzer.

RESULTS: After treatment, the inflammatory factors (IL-ip, IL-6, TNF-a) in both groups decreased significantly, but the decrease in group B was more significant (P< 0.05). Bone metabolism indicators showed that the improvement in group B was significantly better than that in group A (P< 0.05). Among the cell differentiation-related factors, the expression levels of Runx2, TGF-pi and Sox9 in group B were significantly increased compared with those before treatment (P< 0.05), and were higher than those in group A (P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The use of PRF can optimize the therapeutic effect of TMJ-OA, improve inflammatory responses, promote cell differentiation and improve coagulation function parameters.