The pathophysiology of rotator cuff tendinopathy is not fully understood, particularly in terms of the local inflammatory process. This study aimed to investigate the expression of selected molecules in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α transduction pathway, including TNF-α, TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1), neutral sphingomyelinase activation associated factor (NSMAF), caspase 3 (Casp3), and interleukin (IL)-8, in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy that had undergone surgical treatment. We included 44 participants that underwent arthroscopy, due to rotator cuff tendinopathy. Samples from the injured tendon were collected during arthroscopy, and RT-PCR was performed to determine gene expression. Pearson correlation analyses or U-Mann–Whitney test were performed to identify associations with the following parameters: sex, age at admission, body mass index, the presence of night pain, previous treatment (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and/or steroids), medical history of the shoulder injury, upper subluxation of the humeral head, and the number of tendons injured. RT-PCR showed that the selected pro-inflammatory factors involved in the TNF-α signalling pathway expression levels were expressed in the tendon tissues. However, the levels of expression varied from patient to patient. Variations were over 250-fold for TNF-α, about 130-fold for TNFR1, NSMAF, and Casp3, and 1000-fold for IL-8. We could not confirm that any of the clinical parameters investigated were associated with the level of gene expression in the TNF-α pathway and IL-8.

肩袖肌腱病的病理生理学尚不完全清楚，特别是在局部炎症过程方面。本研究旨在探讨肿瘤坏死因子 (TNF)-α 转导通路中选定分子的表达，包括 TNF-α、TNF 受体 1 (TNFR1)、中性鞘磷脂酶激活相关因子 (NSMAF)、半胱天冬酶 3 (Casp3)、和白细胞介素（IL）-8，用于接受手术治疗的肩袖肌腱病患者。我们纳入了 44 名因肩袖肌腱病变而接受关节镜检查的参与者。在关节镜检查期间收集来自受伤肌腱的样本，并进行 RT-PCR 以确定基因表达。皮尔逊相关分析或U-Mann-Whitney 检验用于确定与以下参数的关联：性别、入院时的年龄、体重指数、夜间疼痛的存在、既往治疗（非甾体抗炎药和/或类固醇）、肩部病史损伤、肱骨头上半脱位和肌腱损伤的数量。RT-PCR显示，参与TNF-α信号通路表达水平的选定促炎因子在肌腱组织中表达。然而，表达水平因患者而异。TNF-α 变异超过 250 倍，TNFR1、NSMAF 和 Casp3 变异约 130 倍，IL-8 变异 1000 倍。我们无法证实所研究的任何临床参数与 TNF-α 通路和 IL-8 中的基因表达水平相关。