文摘
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease characterized by cartilage degeneration, secondary synovial membrane inflammation and subchondral bone changes. In recent years, many studies have confirmed that interleukin-18 (IL-18) is involved in the inflammatory process of inflammatory joint diseases. In the present study, we investigated IL-18 levels in plasma, synovial fluid and articular cartilage of patients with primary knee OA (n?=?33) to analyze their relationship with radiographic severity. Compared to healthy controls (n?=?15), OA patients had higher plasma and synovial fluid IL-18 concentrations (45.8?±?22.1 vs. 23.7?±?13.6?pg/ml, P?P?P?r?=?0.663, P?r?=?0.56, P?=?0.001 and r?=?0.884, P?r?=?0.632, P?r?=?0.489, P?=?0.004 and r?=?0.620, P?