Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common clinical degenerative disease characterized by the destruction of articular cartilage, which has an increasing impact on people's lives and social economy. The pathogenesis of OA is complex and unclear, and there is no effective way to block its progress. The study of the pathogenesis of OA is the prerequisite for the early diagnosis and effective treatment of OA. To define the pathogenesis of OA, this review considers the pathological mechanism of OA that involves microRNA, lncRNA, and exosomes. More and more evidence shows that microRNA, lncRNA, and exosomes are closely related to OA. MicroRNA inhibits the target gene by binding to the 3′‐ untranslated region of the targets. LncRNA usually competes with microRNA to regulate the expression level of downstream genes, while exosomes, as a carrier of intercellular information transfer, transmit the biological information of mother cells to target cells, and the effect of exosomes secreted by different cells on OA are different. In this review, we emphasized that different microRNA, lncRNA, and exosomes have different regulatory effects on chondrocyte proliferation and apoptosis, extracellular matrix degradation and inflammation. Besides, we classified and analyzed these molecules according to their effects on the progress of OA. Based on the analysis of the reported literature, this review reveals some pathogenesis of OA, and emphasizes that microRNA, lncRNA, and exosomes have great potential to assist early diagnosis and effective treatment of OA.
Background: The incidence of insufficiency fracture (IF) at femoral neck is low, accounting for about 5% of all insufficiency fractures, and IF at bilateral femoral neck is less common with more occurrence in athlete or serviceman. With the aging of populations, more cases of bilateral femoral neck IF have occurred recently, while the standard clinical treatment still remains lacking due to the complexity of these patients. Case presentation: A 55-year-old male patient complained pain in his bilateral hip, with no history of trauma, glucocorticoid hormone consumption or radiotherapy, and imaging examination revealed fracture nonunion and shortening in his left femoral neck, and double fracture line on the right femoral neck. The patient received a cementless THA for the left femoral neck fracture and conservative treatment for the right side, followed by Elcatonin injection and oral administration of Carbonate D3 Granules. After 4 months of fellow-up, the patient presented improved functional scorings in bilateral hip joints, with no signs of prothesis infection or loosening. Conclusion: We present a rare case of bilateral femoral neck IF in a middle-aged male and the treatment is successful. The timely CT and MRI examinations of bilateral hip joints for patients was necessary for orthopedists to select proper therapeutic regimen. In addition, the choice for therapeutic regimen of bilateral femoral IF should not only be based on the professional judgement of orthopedists, but also on the wishes of patients.