The Expression And Significance Of β-catenin And CD 44 In The Articular Cartilage Of Osteoarthritis

Objective This study is undertaken to approach the correlations betweenβ-catenin and CD44 in pathogenesis and progression of osteoarthritis(OA) by detecting the expression ofβ-catenin and CD44 in different impaired cartilage of human OA.Methods To collect 40 cartilage specimens from OA(30) and normal joints(10).50 cartilage tissues with the form of 1.0 cm×1.0 cm×0.5cm were cut from these specimens according to the Outerbridge classification.All the cartilage tissues included normal and impaired cartilage ones.Then All the samples were ascribed to four groups of normal(A),minor(B),moderate(C) and severe(D) on the basis of the improved grading system of Mankin.The expression ofβ-catenin and CD44 were detected in these samples by the immunohistochemistry (SABC),and then the expression result statistics were analysed by SPSS13.0.Results 1.β-catenin were detected on the tissues of all the four groups.The amounts of average gray level ofβ-catenin expression were respectively(Group A) 175.67±23.68,(Group B) 147.49±15.97,(Group C) 121.34±12.55,(Group D) 109.96±21.24.The mutual comparisons of all these groups have statistical significance(P＜0.05) except the one between Group C and Group D(P＞0.05).2.CD44 were also detected on the tissues of all the four groups.The amounts of average gray level of Caveolin-1 expression were respectively (Group A) 183.14±8.74,(Group B) 166.54±9.16,(Group C) 145.16±13.93,(Group D) 127.30±16.04.The mutual comparisons of all these groups have statistical significance.(P＜0.05 ).3.The average gray level ofβ-catenin in each group are decrease accord with the improved grading system of Mankin(r= - 0.807,P＜0.01).That means the expression ofβ-catenin correlates with the grade of pathogenesis positively.The average gray level of CD44 in each group are also decrease accord with the improved grading system of Mankin(r= -0.848,P＜0.01).It also means the expression of CD44 correlates with the grade of pathogenesis positively.The positive corrlation betweenβ-catenin and CD44 have statistical significance(r=0.730,P＜0.05).Conclusions 1.β-catenin play a significant role in the pathogenesis and progression of OA.2.CD44 play a great role in the pathogenesis and progression of osteoarthritis.3.There is a cooperative effect ofβ-catenin and CD44 in the pathogenesis and progression of OA.