Influence of continuous infusion of interleukin‐1α on the core protein and the core protein fragments of the small proteoglycan decorin in cartilage

Decorin, a collagen‐binding small proteoglycan, is considered to have a specific function in the organization or stability of the collagen network. Therefore, alteration of its molecular properties may be of pathophysiological relevance during the development of cartilage damage. It is shown here that normal cartilage from rabbit knee‐joint contains glycosaminoglycan chain‐bearing core protein fragments of 39, 23, and 18 kDa, each one amounting to ∼5–6% of the intact decorin core protein. Continuous infusion of human recombinant interleukin‐1α for 14 days (200 ng/day) into a knee‐joint led in condylar cartilage to a reduction in the amount of intact core protein from 2 μg/mg wet tissue to about 1.1 μg/mg. The increase in its quantity found after infusion of heat‐inactivated interleukin‐1 was not statistically significant. The concentration of all three core protein fragments became reduced to a similar extent as the intact core protein under the influence of the cytokine, and additional fragments were not found. Surprisingly, there was a much smaller response to interleukin‐1‐treatment in patellar cartilage.