PEROXIDATION IN THE SYNOVIAL FLUID OF PATIENTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS AFTER SARS-CoV 2-INFECTION

Abstract

The 2019 coronavirus disease (Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) poses a great threat to the health of people in all countries of the world. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2) is a respiratory disease characterized by the development of severe life-threatening complications. COVID-19 is more likely to be severe and sometimes fatal, especially in older people with co-morbidities. A topical issue is predicting the course of chronic diseases in people who have contracted a coronavirus infection. An increasing number of cases of arthritis associated with COVID-19 have been reported in the literature, making this condition worthy of further study. It is known that the development of osteoarthritis is associated with oxidative stress and excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Lipid peroxidation products can serve as a marker of the intensity of free radical processes. The aim of the study was to determine the concentration of lipid peroxidation products in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis after SARS-CoV2 infection. All study participants were divided into two groups. The first group (n=22) is patients with osteoarthritis of knee joints II-III degree. The second group (n=14) is patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joints II-III degree, who suffered a mild and moderate form of COVID-19 6-9 months ago. In the conducted studies, the products of lipid peroxidation in the synovial fluid of patients of all research groups were evaluated.The content of diene conjugates was determined in the heptane-isopropanol extract by the spectrophotometric method, Schiff bases by the fluorimetric method. The content of TBA-active products was determined by the reaction with thiobarbituric acid (TBA). The processing of the research results was carried out using generally accepted methods of variational statistics. It was established that in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joints who contracted COVID-19, the concentration of lipid peroxidation products increases compared to the group of patients with osteoarthritis (diene conjugates – by 1.7 times, TBА-active compounds – by 1,5 times, Schiff bases – 1.3 times). The detected changes indicate a violation of the oxidative-antioxidant balance. This indicates the prevalence of free radical processes and the development of oxidative stress directly in the joint. The results obtained by us indicate that patients with osteoarthritis may develop more severe joint damage and complications after infection with COVID-19.