Objective: To investigate the effects of emodin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and damage in HK-2 cells. Methods: The HK-2 cells were divided into blank group, emodin group, LPS group, and LPS+emodin group. The emodin group was treated with culture medium containing 0.5 μg/ml emodin, the LPS group was treated with culture medium containing 10 μg/ml LPS, the LPS+emodin group was treated with culture medium containing both 0.5 μg/ml emodin and 10 μg/ml LPS, and the blank group was cultured with fresh medium. Twelve hours later, HK-2 cells from each group were harvested for the analysis. The mRNA levels of oligonucleotide receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), IL-1β, IL-18, TNF-α, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in each group were determined by RT-PCR. Results: Compared to the blank group, the mRNA levels of NLRP3 (2.74 ± 0.38 vs. 1.00 ± 0.14), IL-1β (2.40 ± 0.33 vs. 1.00 ± 0.19), and IL-18 (3.00 ± 0.42 vs. 1.00 ± 0.07), NGAL (31.73 ± 3.41 vs. 1.00 ± 0.07), and TNF-α (9.73±1.60 vs. 1.00 ± 0.11) significantly increased by LPS stimulation (P<0.05). Compared to the LPS group, the mRNA expression of NLRP3 (1.98 ± 0.24 vs. 2.74 ± 0.39), IL-1β (1.54 ± 0.24 vs. 2.40 ± 0.33), and IL-18 (2.09 ± 0.53 vs. 3.00 ± 0.42), NGAL (16.76 ± 1.72 vs. 31.73 ± 3.41) and TNF-α (9.73 ± 1.60 vs. 4.65 ± 1.09) in HK-2 cells of LPS+emodin group significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusions The emodin protects HK-2 cells from LPS-induced damage and inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Objective To observe the value of anatomical characteristics of femoral intercondylar notch of knee joint for predicting non-contact anterior cruciate ligament tear(NC-ACLT).Methods MRI data of knee joint of 55 patients with NC-ACLT(NC-ACLT group)and 55 controls(control group)were retrospectively analyzed.The parameters of intercondylar notch,including depth,width,depth/width ratio,opening width,opening width index,area and width of the femoral condyle's outer edge at the same level were measured between groups,and the types of intercondylar notch(type A,U and W)were recorded.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to screen the independent impact factors of NC-ACLT.Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn,and the area under the curves(AUC)were calculated to evaluate the efficacy of each intercondylar notch parameter for predicting NC-ACLT.Results The depth and depth/width ratio of intercondylar notch in NC-ACLT group were both higher,while the opening width and opening width index of intercondylar notch in NC-ACLT group were both lower than those in control group(all P＜0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the depth of intercondylar notch was an independent impact factors of NC-ACLT(P＜0.05).Taken 29.55 mm in depth of intercondylar notch,1.45 in depth/width ratio of intercondylar notch,21.15 mm in opening width of intercondylar notch and 0.29 in opening width index as the optimal cut-off value,respectively,the sensitivity of the above parameters for predicting NC-ACLT was 74.55％,58.18％,67.27％and 67.27％,the specificity was 69.09％,80.00％,61.82％and 78.18％,and the AUC was 0.720,0.713,0.652 and 0.710,respectively.Conclusion The anatomical characteristics of femoral intercondylar notch of knee joint could be used to predict NC-ACLT.The depth,depth/width ratio,opening width and opening width index of intercondylar notch could be used as predictive indicators.