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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by joint destruction with cartilage loss and occasional gross derangement of joint integrity. In recent years, several studies have reported the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and knee OA. However, the results were conflicting. To determine the association between ACE gene I/D polymorphism and knee OA, we conducted a hospital-based case–control study with 282 knee OA cases and 316 controls to investigate the association between ACE gene I/D polymorphism and knee OA susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. The present study found that DD genotype or D allele carriers of ACE gene I/D polymorphism increased the risk of knee OA. Stratification analyses of sex, age, and body mass index (BMI) showed significant associations amongst the groups of females, ≥55 years, and abnormal BMI. In addition, the present study made analysis between ACE I/D polymorphism and some clinical features of OA, and found DD genotype of I/D polymorphism was associated with arthralgia. Furthermore, we undertook a meta-analysis together with the present study between this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and knee OA risk. This meta-analysis found that ACE gene I/D polymorphism was associated with increased risk for OA. Stratification analysis of ethnicity in this meta-analysis indicated that I/D polymorphism increased the risk of knee OA amongst the Asians and Caucasians. In conclusion, this case–control study and meta-analysis suggest that ACE gene I/D polymorphism is associated with increased risk for knee OA.

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease with a rapidly increasing prevalence, characterized by massive bone loss because of excessive osteoclast formation. Gallic acid (GA), a phenolic acid isolated from Cornus officinalis, has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects, but its effect on osteoclast formation has not been confirmed. In our study, we demonstrated that GA significantly inhibited RANKL‐induced osteoclast formation and function of osteoclast in bone marrow monocytes (BMMs) and RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity. For molecular mechanisms, GA repressed osteoclastogenesis by blocking Akt, ERK, and JNK pathways, and suppressed osteoclastogenesis-related marker expression, including nuclear factor of the activated T-cell cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), c‐Fos, and cathepsin K (CTSK). In addition, we further assessed the effect of GA in an ovariectomized mouse model, which indicated that GA has a notable effect on preventing bone loss. In conclusion, GA exerts notable effects in inhibiting osteoclastogenesis and preventing ovariectomy-induced bone loss, suggesting that GA is a potential agent in osteoporosis treatment.

No abstract

C-arm fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous needle biopsy (PNB) is a commonly used biopsy method, which shows similar diagnostic outcomes to CT-guided biopsy. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of C-arm fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous needle biopsy (PNB) for spinal infection. A total of 30 male and 73 female patients with suspected spinal infection were enrolled. Among enrolled patients, the spinal lesion was mainly located in the thoracic (T3-T12, 48.28%) and lumbar vertebra (L1-L5, 46.80%), and T12 was the most frequently involved site. C-arm fluoroscopy-guided PNB was performed for the isolation of biopsy samples in these patients. The overall detection rate of pathological changes in bone tissues was 94.1% (191/203), including 92 granulomata with caseous necrosis, 81 inflammatory tissues, 18 tumor tissues, and 12 bone tissues without visible pathological changes. After excluding the tumors, the detection rate of pathogenic microorganisms in liquid tissues was 50.27% (93/185), including 68 Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and 25 other microorganisms. Spinal tuberculosis was diagnosed in 118 (58%) cases, and nonspecific spinal infection with microorganisms other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis was diagnosed in 25 (12.7%) cases. Definite diagnosis was not determined in the left 42 (20.5%) patients with neither positive pathological nor pathogenic results. C-arm fluoroscopy-guided PNB is effective in the detection of pathological changes and pathogenic microorganisms, which is a practical approach for the diagnosis of spinal infection with high accuracy.