Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating degenerative joint disease particularly affecting weightbearing joints within the body, principally the hips and knees. Current radiographic techniques are insufficient to show biochemical changes within joint tissue which can occur many years before symptoms become apparent. The need for better diagnostic and prognostic tools is heightened with the prevalence of OA set to increase in aging and obese populations. As inflammation is increasingly being considered an important part of OAs pathophysiology, cytokines are being assessed as possible candidates for biochemical markers. Cytokines, both pro- and anti-inflammatory, as well as angiogenic and chemotactic, have in recent years been studied for relevant characteristics. Biochemical markers show promise in determination of the severity of disease in addition to monitoring of the efficacy and safety of disease-modifying OA drugs, with the potential to act as diagnostic and prognostic tools. Currently, the diagnostic power of interleukin (IL)-6 and the relationship to disease burden of IL-1β, IL-15, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular endothelial growth factor make these the best candidates for assessment. Grouping appropriate cytokine markers together and assessing them collectively alongside other bone and cartilage degradation products will yield a more statistically powerful tool in research and clinical applications, and additionally aid in distinguishing between OA and a number of other diseases in which cytokines are known to have an involvement. Further large scale studies are needed to assess the validity and efficacy of current biomarkers, and to discover other potential biomarker candidates.

(1) Background: Lower levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) are common in osteoarthritis (OA) patients. However, the effect of vitamin D supplementation on muscle strength and physical performance remains unclear. This study will investigate the effects of vitamin D₂ supplementation on muscle strength and physical performance in knee OA patients; (2) Methods: One hundred and seventy-five primary knee OA patients with low levels of serum 25(OH)D (<30 ng/mL) received 40,000 IU vitamin D₂ (ergocalciferol) per week for six months. Body composition, muscle strength, physical performance, serum 25(OH)D level, leptin, interlukin-6 (IL-6), parathyroid hormone (PTH), protein carbonyl, and metabolic profile were analyzed; (3) Results: Baseline mean serum 25(OH)D levels in knee OA patients was 20.73 ng/mL. Regarding baseline vitamin D status, 58.90% of patients had vitamin D insufficiency, and 41.10% had vitamin D deficiency. After vitamin D₂ supplementation for six months, mean serum 25(OH)D level was 32.14 ng/mL. For post-supplementation vitamin D status, 57.10% of patients had vitamin D sufficiency and 42.90% had vitamin D insufficiency. From baseline to six months, there was a significant increase in mean serum 25(OH)D level (p < 0.001), while mean LDL cholesterol (p = 0.001), protein carbonyl (p = 0.04), and PTH (p = 0.005) all significantly decreased. Patient quality of life (SF-12) and pain (visual analog scale, VAS) both improved significantly from baseline to the six-month time point (p = 0.005 and p = 0.002, respectively). Knee OA patients demonstrated significant improvement grip strength and physical performance measurements after vitamin D₂ supplementation (p < 0.05); (4) Conclusions: Vitamin D₂ supplementation for six months reduced oxidative protein damage, decreased pain (VAS), improved quality of life, and improved grip strength and physical performance in osteoarthritis patients.

Adipokines: Biomarkers for osteoarthritis?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a severe healthcare problem worldwide since the first outbreak in late December 2019. Currently, the COVID-19 vaccine has been used in many countries, but it is still unable to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, despite patients receiving full vaccination doses. Therefore, we aimed to appraise the booster effect of the different platforms of vaccines, including inactivated vaccine (BBIBP), viral vector vaccine (AZD122), and mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2), in healthy adults who received the full dose of inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac). The booster dose was safe with no serious adverse events. Moreover, the immunogenicity indicated that the booster dose with viral vector and mRNA vaccine achieved a significant proportion of Ig anti-receptor binding domain (RBD), IgG anti-RBD, and IgA anti-S1 booster response. In contrast, inactivated vaccine achieved a lower booster response than others. Consequently, the neutralization activity of vaccinated serum had a high inhibition of over 90% against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type and their variants (B.1.1.7–alpha, B.1.351–beta, and B.1.617.2–delta). In addition, IgG anti-nucleocapsid was observed only among the group that received the BBIBP booster. Our study found a significant increase in levels of IFN-ɣ secreting T-cell response after the additional viral vector or mRNA booster vaccination. This study showed that administration with either viral vector (AZD1222) or mRNA (BNT162b2) boosters in individuals with a history of two doses of inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) obtained great immunogenicity with acceptable adverse events.