Immune responses to osteoarticular allografts of the knee cytokine studies

Immunological behaviour in correlation with bone allograft survival was stu died in peripheral blood and synovial fluid from seven patients who had und ergone large bone resection and allograft transplantation of the knee. Plas ma and synovial fluid samples for cytokine measurements [interleukin (IL-1 beta, IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)] were drawn from p eripheral blood for diagnostic arthrocentesis. Two patients were monitored using consecutive sampling up to 12 months postoperatively. Graft survival was considered excellent, but local or diffuse resorption and also fatigue fractures were seen. These findings show that soluble products of T-cell, m acrophage and osteoblast origin, produced as a response to the bone-graft a ntigens, might be responsible for the bone resorption seen in our material. The elevated IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha levels detected support this statemen t.