Evaluation of meniscal structural alterations in osteoarthritis, immunohistochemical study

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the development of osteoarthritis and the inflammatory and fibrotic markers in meniscus tissue obtained from the knee joint by identifying them using immunohistochemical methods. Material Method: The study included 138 patients, 104 female and 34 male, who applied to the orthopedic clinic with complaints of knee pain or locked movement, 71 of whom underwent total knee prosthesis and 67 underwent knee arthroscopy. A patient card was created for all patients before surgery. Demographic characteristics such as age and gender and preoperative Kellgren-Lawrence score were recorded. Outerbridge classification was applied to patients who underwent arthroscopy. Meniscus samples were taken during Total Knee Prosthesis and Knee Arthroscopy. The samples were stained immunohistochemically with TNF-α, IL-1β, MMP2, MMP9, α-SMA. To evaluate elastic fibers, samples were stained with Verhoeff's Elastic Van Gieson and the amount was measured microscopically. And H-SCORE was calculated histologically. Results: It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in IL-1β levels among the cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, MMP2, MMP9, α-SMA) and elastin levels calculated with H-Score in the patients we evaluated radiologically with the Kellgren-Lawrence score and arthroscopically with the Outerbridge score, but there was no statistically significant difference between the levels of the others. Conclusion: Although the inflammatory process in the development of osteoarthritis in the knee joint may originate from different tissues and inflammation is associated with cartilage damage, a relationship was observed between the levels of IL-1β, an inflammatory cytokine, and osteoarthritis patients at different stages. It was observed that there was no relationship between the development of osteoarthritis and the other cytokines we examined and elastin. Multidisciplinary studies that will be conducted with the participation of more patients with different inflammation markers may be informative about the complex etiology of osteoarthritis development.