Research of expression and significance of Caspase-3,XIAP in articular cartilage of osteoarthritis

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Caspase-3,XIAP in articular cartilage of osteoarthritis. Methods Immunohistochemistry and TUNEL assay were used to detect the expression of Caspase-3,XIAP proteins in articular cartilage and the apoptosis of the articular chondrocytes in 22 cases. Results The positive expression rat of Caspase-3 protein in osteoarthritic chondrocytes was higher than that in normal chondrocytes(P 0.01). There was a positive correlation between degrees of the expression of Caspase-3 and chondrocytes apoptosis in osteoarthritic articular cartilage(P 0.01),but a negative correlateion between degree of the expression of XIAP and chondrocytes apoptosis in osteoarthritic articular cartilage(P 0.05). Conclusion There is a consanguineous correlation between degrees of the expression of Caspase-3,XIAP and chondrocytes apoptosis in osteoarthritic articular cartilage.