Abstract

The expression of CD44 in osteoarthritis cartilage tissue and its effect in the generation and development of osteoarthritis (OA) were studied. Forty patients with primary OA who received joint arthroplasty were randomly included in this study as OA group. The normal articular cartilages as control group were obtained following Outerbridge standard from twenty patients who received amputation. The cartilages were fixed, decalcified, paraffin embedded and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). Immunohistochemical staining method was used to determine CD44 expression. The fragments were divided into normal group, mild group, moderate group and severe group according to the severity of degeneration. CD44 expressed both in the control and OA group, and mainly localized in the cell membrane. The level of CD44 in OA group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05); the level of CD44 gradually decreased with the severity of OA lesions, that is, mild group > moderate group > severe group, and the three groups had significant differences (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between the CD44 expression levels and the Mankin pathology score in the OA cartilage tissue (r = -6.013, P<0.01). Adhesion molecule CD44 highly expressed in osteoarthritis tissue, and gradually decreased with the severity of osteoarthritis lesions.

Key words: Adhesion molecule CD44, osteoarthritis, cartilage tissue, immunohistochemical staining.