Osteoarthritis (OA) is a heterogeneous disease caused by the pathology of the synovial joint. About 10-12% of adults have symptomatic OA. In this study, the proteomics method was used to find differentially expressed proteins and to explore the material basis of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) classification in knee OA patients.
Fifteen patients of the treatment group with knee OA of three different classifications were divided into three groups according to the dialectical classification of TCM: kidney deficiency type (5 cases), Yang deficiency type (5 cases), blood stasis type (5 cases). Also, five patients with traumatic synovitis were enrolled as the control group. The joint fluids were drawn separately. The joint fluids before treatment were Aa, Ba, and Ca groups. After one week of medication, the three joint fluid types were drawn again, and they were Ab group, Bb, and Cb groups. Liquid from the control group was named group D. Quantitative analysis of protein expression was conducted to find out the differently expressed proteins. The treatment group was treated with prescriptions for syndromes according to the TCM classification.
The proteomics analysis identified 251 differentially expressed protein groups, and the number of groups with quantitative information for all seven channels was 246. The three treatment groups and the control group had 32 differential proteins (P<0.01), of which nine might be differential proteins between OA and traumatic synovitis. Histone H4, histone H2A, S100 calbindin A8, fibrinogen γ, fiber protein α, cDNA (FLJ92148), C4b binding protein, and partial transketolase variants were down-regulation, and basement membrane glycan was up-regulation in the treatment group compared with the control group (P<0.01). HIST1H2BC and myeloperoxidase levels in the Aa group were less than those in the D and Ab groups. The serum amyloid P and apolipoprotein CI variants in the Ba group were less than those in the D and Bb groups. Histone H2A and C-reactive protein, Fibrinogen α levels in the Ca group were less than those in the D and Cb groups.
Nine proteins are closely related to OA of different TCM classification.