Expression of Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIR and Its Influence on the PTEN/PI3K/AKT Pathway and Inflammation in Patients With Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Objective: Our research was designed to investigate the correlations among expression of PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway, clinical-related indicators, and long noncoding RNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (lncRNA HOTAIR) in osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: The expression of immune-inflammatory indicators was detected in OA patients and normal people, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were extracted to induce human chondrocytes (CHs). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure lncRNA HOTAIR expression. The levels of inflammatory cytokines and adiponectin were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to assess the viability of CHs. Western blot analysis was utilized to evaluate related protein expression.Results: LncRNA HOTAIR showed high expression in PBMCs of OA patients with the sensitivity and specificity of receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve according to the area under the ROC curve, indicating that lncRNA HOTAIR might act as a biomarker of OA. Moreover, lncRNA HOTAIR was positively correlated with total cholesterol, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, immunoglobulin G, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and visual analog scale score, which were found to be independent risk factors for lncRNA HOTAIR expression. Besides, overexpression of lncRNA HOTAIR diminished cell viability and IL-10 expression but augmented TNF-α expression in OA-CHs stimulated by OA-PBMCs. Meanwhile, lncRNA HOTAIR overexpression elevated the levels of PI3K, AKT proteins and reduced PTEN protein expression in OA-CHs.Conclusions: Conclusively, lncRNA HOTAIR was upregulated in PBMCs of OA patients, which facilitated the inflammatory response of OA by orchestrating inflammatory cytokines and the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.