ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to explore the mRNA levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), vessel endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in synovial tissues in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and to analyze the functions of these proteins in the differentiation of AS synovial tissue fibroblasts into osteoblasts (OB) and osteoclasts. Synovial tissue samples from 22 AS patients and 22 normal individuals were collected. In situ hybridization was utilized to detect TNF-α, VEGF, and MMP-3 transcripts. After counting numbers of positive cells, Spearman analysis was used to determine the correlation between transcriptional levels of the three mRNAs and the AS disease activity index (BASDAI) and the C-response protein (CRP) levels. With the addition of TNF-α, VEGF, or both factors into cultured normal synovial fibroblasts, osteocalcin (bone gla protein, BGP) secretion levels were compared. We found that expression of TNF-α, VEGF, and MMP-3 was identified exclusively in the disease group. mRNA levels were significantly positively (2015) correlated with BASDAI (r = 0.42, 0.38, and 0.47, respectively; P < 0.05) and CRP (r = 0.44, 0.34, and 0.47 respectively; P < 0.05) scores. The secretion level of BGP in normal synovial fibroblasts increased progressively with increasing concentrations of VEGF or TNF-α (P < 0.01 compared to levels before treatment). Furthermore, co-incubation using both VEGF and TNF-α significantly elevated BGP levels compared to the single addition of VEGF or TNF-α (P < 0.01). These results suggest TNF-α, VEGF, and MMP-3 might directly participate in the differentiation of fibroblasts into OBs.

Hemoglobin release test (HRT), which is established by our lab, is a new experiment to observe the re-released hemoglobin (Hb) from erythrocytes. In this study, onedimension HRT, double dimension HRT, and isotonic and hypotonic HRT were performed to observe the re-released Hb from the blood samples of normal adult, hereditary spherocytosis (HS), and α-thalassemia. The results showed that compared with normal adult, the re-released Hb from HS blood sample was decreased significantly; however, the re-released Hb from α-thalassemia blood sample was increased significantly. The mechanism of this phenomenon was speculated to have relation with the abnormal amount of membrane-binding Hb.