This study was designed to investigate the accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and the expression of the receptor of AGEs (RAGE) in tendinopathic tissues. In this study, tendinopathic posterior tibial tendons (PTT) were collected from patients (n=6). Redundant autografts of flexor digitorum longus tendon (FDL; n=3) were used for controls. The control and tendinopathic tendon tissues were used for extraction of proteins for western blot and sectioned for histology and immunohistochemistry. Tendinopathy of the PTT was confirmed histologically by the presentation of disorderly organized collagen fibers, high cellularity and increased vascularity. By immunohistochemistry, heterogeneous accumulation of AGEs was detected on the PTT sections and concentrated in areas, where collagen fibers were disorderly and tangled. In the PTT, roundish tenocytes were also AGEs-positive. In contrast, AGEs were diffuse, lightly stained in the FDL. A greater number of tenocytes within the tendinopathic lesions in the PTT were RAGE positive, compared to the tenocytes in the FDL. Western blot confirmed the expression of AGEs and RAGE in both tendinopathic PTT and control FDL but their band densities were not significantly different. The spatial relation of the accumulated AGEs and RAGE- positive tenocytes within the tendinopathic lesions indicates their involvement in the molecular pathology of tendinopathy.

中文翻译：

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晚期糖基化终产物及其受体在肌腱病变中的定位。

本研究旨在研究肌腱病组织中晚期糖基化终产物（AGE）的积累和AGE受体（RAGE）的表达。在这项研究中，从患者（n = 6）中收集了腱病性胫骨后肌腱（PTT）。使用多余的趾长屈肌腱自体移植物（FDL；n=3）作为对照。对照和肌腱病肌腱组织用于提取蛋白质用于蛋白质印迹，并切片用于组织学和免疫组织化学。 PTT 肌腱病通过组织学上无序排列的胶原纤维、高细胞结构和增加的血管结构得到证实。通过免疫组化，在PTT切片上检测到AGEs的异质积累，并且集中在胶原纤维无序和缠结的区域。在 PTT 中，圆形肌腱细胞也呈 AGE 阳性。相比之下，FDL 中的 AGE 呈弥漫性、浅色染色。与 FDL 中的肌腱细胞相比，PTT 中肌腱病病变内的更多数量的肌腱细胞呈 RAGE 阳性。 Western blot证实了肌腱病PTT和对照FDL中AGEs和RAGE的表达，但它们的条带密度没有显着差异。肌腱病病变内累积的 AGE 和 RAGE 阳性肌腱细胞的空间关系表明它们参与肌腱病的分子病理学。