Interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor ?, and interleukin-17 synergistically up-regulate nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 production in explants of human osteoarthritic knee menisci

Abstract

Menisci from humans with OA spontaneously produced NO and PGE2 in a manner that was synergistically or additively augmented by cytokines. NO and PGE2 exhibited reciprocal regulatory effects on one another, suggesting that pharmaceutical agents designed to inhibit NOS2 or COX-2 production may in fact be influencing both pathways.