Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease of cartilaginous tissues that is accompanied by hyperalgesia. Molecular cause and effect relationships between OA and pain remain to be elucidated. In this study, we have developed an experimental ex vivo organ co-culture system with dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and knee synovial tissues from OA patients or unaffected human subjects. Our results suggest that tissues may generate symptomatic pain by altering the functional properties of sensory neurons. Specifically, we find that the expression levels of genes associated with neuronal pathways (e.g., SP, NK1, NK2, NPYR1, NPYR2, α2δ1) or inflammation (COX2/PTGS2 and IL6/interferon β2) are clearly elevated in DRG explants cultured in the presence of OA derived synovial tissues. These findings are consistent with a model in which cytokines and pain molecules produced by knee synovium sensitize nociceptive neurons in tissues peripheral to joint cartilage.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5335-5339 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Molecular Biology Reports |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2011 |
Keywords
- Dorsal root ganglia
- Inflammation
- Neuronal pathways
- Osteoarthritis
- Pain
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics