Distribution of 16 elements in synovial membrane of patients with Osteoarthritis

WANG Sheng-yu; TAO Shu-qing; RONG Jie-sheng; MAO Qing-fu

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-252X.2013.07.004

Abstract： Objective Osteoarthritis ( OA ) is one kind of degenerative osteoarthropathy. The pathogenesis of OA is not clear, and the studies about it are rare. Trace elements in human body can maintain body’s normal physiological activity by the process of metabolism, various biological and chemical reaction and so on. If the content of trace elements of body is in disorder, it may cause a variety of diseases. This experiment analyses the distribution of the 16 elements ( B, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Ba, Pb ) in the synovial membrane of the patient with OA, and to discuss the regularity of distribution of the elements and their effects on the etiology and pathogenesis of OA. It will provide the basis in theory for the clinical diagnosis and etiopathogenesis. Methods Patients of osteoarthritis and meniscus injury were considered to be the object of the study. Patients with OA were of experimental group. Patients with meniscus injury caused by simple trauma were of control group. We collected the synovial membrane from the patients through operation and processed the samples with microwave digestion. After that, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry ( ICP-MS ) method was established for the determination of 16 elements. The experiment results were analyzed by SAS 9.0. Results The concentrations of 7 trace elements such as Fe, Se, B, Ca, K, Cu and Zn were significant different between the synovial membrane of osteoarthritis and the normal ( P<0.05 ). The concentrations of Fe, Se, B in the synovial membrane of osteoarthritis were lower than that in the side of normal. The concentrations of Ca, K, Cu, Zn in the synovial membrane of osteoarthritis were higher than that in the side of normal. No significant change occurred in the concentration of Mn, Cr, Sr, Ni, Ba, Al, Pb, Sb, Mg. Conclusions The concentrations of 7 trace elements such as Fe, Se, B, Ca, K, Cu and Zn in the synovial membrane of patients of osteoarthritis changes obviously. These elements are the essential elements of body, which probably lead to osteoarthritis by affecting the metabolism of protein and enzyme.