Decreased angiogenic and increased apoptotic activities of bone microvascular endothelial cells in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head.
BACKGROUND
Glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is closely associated with the dysfunction of the bone microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs). The present study investigated the angiogenic and apoptotic activity of the BMECs in glucocorticoid-induced ONFH.


METHODS
This study enrolled a total of 12 patients, six of whom were assigned to the ONFH group whereas the other six served as the control group. The ONFH group was composed of patients with glucocorticoid-induced ONFH while the control group had femoral neck fractures. BMECs were isolated from the subchondral region of the femoral head. Cell proliferation, cell viability, tube formation assay, Transwell assay, TUNEL assay, and Western blot analysis were performed.


RESULTS
BMECs of the two groups were successfully isolated and identified. No significant differences were noticed in BMECs proliferation between the two groups. However, compared to the control, cell viability, tube formation, and migration of BMECs were significantly decreased and the number of TUNEL positive cells was markedly increased in the ONFH group. In the ONFH group, it was also noted that the amount of Bax and cleaved-caspase3 was elevated while that of Bcl-2 was reduced.


CONCLUSION
The findings of our study revealed that BMECs obtained from the glucocorticoid-induced ONFH patients had decreased angiogenic and increased apoptotic activities, which could explain the pathogenesis and progression of glucocorticoid-induced ONFH.
['Yu|Huachen|H|', 'Liu|Pei|P|', 'Zuo|Wei|W|', 'Sun|Xiaowei|X|', 'Liu|Hongzhi|H|', 'Lu|Feifan|F|', 'Guo|Wanshou|W|', 'Zhang|Qidong|Q|']
D000368:Aged D017209:Apoptosis D016022:Case-Control Studies D053148:Caspase 3 D049109:Cell Proliferation D002470:Cell Survival D042783:Endothelial Cells D005260:Female D005270:Femur Head D005271:Femur Head Necrosis D019254:Genes, bcl-2 D005938:Glucocorticoids D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
Bone microvascular endothelial cells Osteonecrosis of the femoral head Angiogenesis Apoptosis Glucocorticoids