Abstract
The pathophysiology of rotator cuff tendinopathy is not fully understood, particularly in terms of the local inflammatory process. This study aimed to investigate the expression of selected molecules in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α transduction pathway, including TNF-α, TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1), neutral sphingomyelinase activation associated factor (NSMAF), caspase 3 (Casp3), and interleukin (IL)-8, in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy that had undergone surgical treatment. We included 44 participants that underwent arthroscopy, due to rotator cuff tendinopathy. Samples from the injured tendon were collected during arthroscopy, and RT-PCR was performed to determine gene expression. Pearson correlation analyses or U-Mann-Whitney test were performed to identify associations with the following parameters: sex, age at admission, body mass index, the presence of night pain, previous treatment (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and/or steroids), medical history of the shoulder injury, upper subluxation of the humeral head, and the number of tendons injured. RT-PCR showed that the selected pro-inflammatory factors involved in the TNF-α signalling pathway expression levels were expressed in the tendon tissues. However, the levels of expression varied from patient to patient. Variations were over 250-fold for TNF-α, about 130-fold for TNFR1, NSMAF, and Casp3, and 1000-fold for IL-8. We could not confirm that any of the clinical parameters investigated were associated with the level of gene expression in the TNF-α pathway and IL-8.