Xingzhong (Jason) Jin

• MBBS, MMed, PhD
• Research Associate at UNSW Sydney

Importance Observational studies suggest that vitamin D supplementation is associated with benefits for knee osteoarthritis, but current trial evidence is contradictory.Objective To compare the effects of vitamin D supplementation vs placebo on knee pain and knee cartilage volume in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and low vitamin D...

There is emerging evidence that the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with inflammation. C reactive protein (CRP), a systemic marker for inflammation, may be elevated in OA patients but the evidence is conflicting. To systematically review the literature for the relationship between serum CRP levels measured by a high...

Ganoderma lucidum is a natural medicine that is widely used and recommended by Asian physicians and naturopaths for its supporting effects on immune system. Laboratory research and a handful of preclinical trials have suggested that G. lucidum carries promising anticancer and immunomodulatory properties. The popularity of taking G. lucidum as an al...

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the longitudinal relationship between adiposity and change in knee pain. Methods: A total of 1099 participants aged 50-79 were randomly selected from the local community in Southern Tasmania, of which 767 were followed up on average 5.1 years later. Knee pain was assessed using the Western Ontario...

Introduction: B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) is a major regulatory factor that controls the development and survival of B cells. Elevated serum levels of BLyS have been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Belimumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits BLyS and it is being developed for the treatment of RA. This review aims to...

Aims It is unclear whether mortality outcomes differ for patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery who are readmitted to the index hospital where their surgery was performed, or to another hospital. Methods We analyzed linked hospital and death records for residents of New South Wales, Australia, age...

Objective Productivity‐adjusted life‐years (PALYs) offers a novel approach for quantifying the productivity burden of chronic conditions at the population level over the working lifespan. This study was undertaken to estimate the productivity burden of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) among working‐age Australians, defined as lost PALYs and lost gross dom...

Aims The aim of this study was to estimate the 90-day periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) for osteoarthritis (OA). Methods This was a data linkage study using the New South Wales (NSW) Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC) and the Australian Orthopaedic Association N...

Background: Real-world data on long-term (> 5 years) weight loss and obesity-related complications after newer bariatric surgical procedures are currently limited. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of bariatric surgery in a cohort with clinically severe obesity in a multidisciplinary publicly fu...

Objective: To assess the real-world effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by replicating a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design in an observational study. Method: This study emulated a target trial using data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). Eligible participants were ≥45 years, had sy...

Objective To describe the association between body weight change and the risk of knee replacement and hip replacement. Design Time-to-event survival analysis from a population-based cohort of participants who had or were at risk of clinically significant knee osteoarthritis at baseline. Setting Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), which...

Background: An under-explored strategy for increasing physical activity is the dietary treatment of obesity, but empirical evidence is lacking. Objectives: To compare the effects of weight loss via severe versus moderate energy restriction on physical activity over 36 months. Methods: 101 postmenopausal female adults (45-65 years, 30-40 kg/m2,...

Background: Assessing the relation between arthritis and cognitive impairment could expand the understanding of health consequences of arthritis. The aim was to prospectively examine the association between arthritis and cognitive functions among middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Methods: Our analyses were based on data from the nationwide China Hea...

Background/Aim The clinical relevance of MRI knee abnormalities in athletes is unclear. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of MRI knee abnormalities in Australian Rules Football (ARF) players and describe their associations with pain, function, past and incident injury and surgery history. Methods 75 male players (mean age 21, range 16–3...

Objective This study aims to investigate the association between weight change and total knee or hip replacement (TKR or THR) for OA among middle-aged and older adults with overweight or obesity. Method Weight data were collected in 2006–2009 and in 2010 from the 45 and Up Study—a population-based cohort aged ≥45 years in New South Wales, Australi...

Aims To prospectively examine the association between arthritis and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the Chinese population and confirm this association through a comprehensive meta-analysis of cohort studies. Meterials and Methods Data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study which was started in 2011–2013 and followed up in 2013–2014...

Objective The present study was undertaken to determine whether vitamin D supplementation or maintaining sufficient vitamin D level reduces foot pain over 2 years in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods A post hoc study was conducted from a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial named the Vitamin D Effect on Oste...

Purpose This paper aims to determine whether a single session of a motivational interview (MI) reduces smoking relapse amongst people released from smoke-free prisons. Design/methodology/approach This study sought to recruit 824 ex-smokers from 2 smoke-free prisons in the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants were randomised to receive eithe...

Introduction Observational data suggest that vitamin D deficiency is associated with the onset and progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to date investigating the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in knee OA have reported conflicting results. Further research is needed to clarify the effects of vi...

Vitamin D supplementation and inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers in patients with knee osteoarthritis: post hoc analysis of a randomised controlled trial – Corrigendum - Shuang Zheng, Bing Wang, Weihu Han, Zhaohua Zhu, Xia Wang, Xingzhong Jin, Benny Antony, Flavia Cicuttini, Anita Wluka, Tania Winzenberg, Dawn Aitken, Leigh Blizzard, Graeme Jone...

Introduction Smoking remains the leading risk factor for disease burden and mortality worldwide. Heavy Smoking is often associated with poor Nutrition, Alcohol abuse and Physical inactivity (known as ‘SNAP’). Australia’s first prison smoking ban was introduced in the Northern Territory in July 2013. However, relapse to smoking after release from pr...

The aim of this study was to determine whether vitamin D supplementation and maintaining vitamin D sufficiency are associated with changes in inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and vitamin D deficiency. A total of 413 participants with symptomatic knee OA and vitamin D deficiency were enrolled in a rando...

Smoking tobacco contributes to 11.5% of deaths worldwide and, in some countries, more hospitalizations than alcohol and drugs combined. Globally in 2015, 25% of men and 5% of women smoked. In the United States, a higher proportion of people in prison smoke than do community-dwelling individuals. To determine smoking prevalence in prisons worldwide,...

Synovial abnormalities have been observed at multiple stages of osteoarthritis (OA). Increasing evidence suggests that it may play an important role in the OA pathological process. Many assessment systems using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound have been established to detect synovial inflammation in OA. These have been used to inform...

Objective: To describe the associations between effusion-synovitis and joint structural abnormalities in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) over 24 months. Methods: A posthoc analysis using data from a randomized controlled trial in 413 patients with symptomatic OA (aged 63 ± 7 yrs, 208 women). Knee effusion-synovitis volume and score, carti...

Objectives To describe whether maintaining sufficient serum vitamin D levels in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and baseline vitamin D insufficiency has an association with change in knee structures and symptoms over two years. Methods Participants (n=413, age 63.2; 50% females) with symptomatic knee OA and vitamin D insufficiency were enroll...

Objective: To develop a measure of knee joint effusion-synovitis volume and to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on effusion-synovitis in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and low vitamin D levels over 24 months. Method: Symptomatic knee OA patients with a low 25-(OH)D level (12.5-60 nmol/l) were recruited for a multi-centre,...

Objective: To investigate the longitudinal association between endogenous sex hormones and knee OA structures and pain. Method: We examined 200 participants (mean age 63.0 ± 7.3 years) from a clinical trial of vitamin D supplement for symptomatic knee OA. Serum levels of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin were...

Objective: To describe cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected osteophytes (OPs) and knee structural abnormalities and knee pain in older adults. Method: A prospective population-based cohort study of 895 participants aged 50-80 years (mean age 62 years, 50% female) was performed. T1-or T2-...

Objective: To describe cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum levels of interleukin (IL) - 6, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-23 and knee bone marrow lesions (BMLs) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Design: Patients (n=192) with symptomatic knee OA (mean 63 years, range 50-79, female 53%) were assessed at baseline and after 24 m...

Objective: To describe associations between serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), knee bone marrow lesions (BMLs), and knee pain, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Patients (n = 192) with symptomatic knee OA (mean age 63 years, range 50–79, women 53%) were assessed at baseline and...

Osteoarthritis (OA) mainly affects older populations; however, it is possible that early life factors contribute to the development of OA in later life. The aim of this review is to describe the association between childhood or early adulthood risk factors and knee pain, structural imaging markers and development of knee OA in later life. A narrati...

In Reply Dr George highlights some limitations of our study. There were 2 primary outcomes, change in tibial cartilage volume and change in the WOMAC pain score over 24 months. For change in tibial cartilage volume, previous studies have shown that a 2-year period is sufficient to observe the progression of knee osteoarthritis assessed by quantitat...

Purpose: To assess reliability and validity of a semi-automated quantitative method to measure infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) signal intensity in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: 100 patients with knee OA were selected. Sagittal planes of fat-saturated T2-weighted images obtained on 1.5-T MRI were utilized to assess IPFP signal int...

Background There are no long-term studies that describe the independent association of infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) signal intensity alterations and effusion-synovitis with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) severity and progression. Objectives To describe the associations between baseline IPFP signal intensity alterations and effusion-synovitis and long-t...

Background There are no long-term studies that describe the independent association of radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based markers and cartilage volume loss and knee symptoms in population-based older adults. Objectives To describe whether radiographic (joint space narrowing (JSN) and osteophytes) and MRI-based (cartilage defec...

Background Quantitative and semi-quantitative assessments of structural changes on magnetic resonance images (MRI) have been widely adopted in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) research. However, there are no long-term studies that describe the independent association of these structural factors and total knee replacement (TKR) in older adults. Objectives...

Background Increased prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) among postmenopausal women suggests involvement of endogenous hormones in pathogenesis. However, the effects of endogenous sex hormones on knee OA structures remain uncertain. Objectives To describe the longitudinal associations between serum levels of estrogen, progesterone and testoster...

Background Synovial inflammation is commonly observed in osteoarthritis (OA). Vitamin D has showed anti-inflammatory properties in joint disorders which have not been reported in OA. Objectives To examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on synovial inflammation in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) and low vitamin D levels...

Objective: To describe the natural history of patellofemoral (PF) joint bone marrow lesions (BMLs) over 2.6 years and associations between changes in PF joint BMLs, knee pain, and knee cartilage morphology in older adults over 5 years. Methods: A prospective population-based cohort study of men and women ages 50-80 years (mean age 63 years, n=406)...

Methods: A total of 406 subjects were randomly selected (mean 62 years, 50% females) at baseline and followed up 2.7 years later. T2 or T1-weighted fat saturation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess knee effusion-synovitis maximal area, cartilage defects, cartilage volume, bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and meniscal pathology at baseli...

Objective: To describe the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between knee regional effusion synovitis and knee pain in older adults. Methods: Data from a population-based random sample (n = 880, mean age 62 yrs, 50% women) were used. Baseline knee joint effusion synovitis was graded (0-3) using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging...

Objective: To describe associations between serum high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), knee bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and knee pain, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Patients (n=192) with symptomatic knee OA (mean 63 years, range 50-79, female 53%) were assessed at baseline and a...

Background Vitamin D may have a protective role for both symptoms and structures in osteoarthritis (OA). Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation versus placebo on knee pain and structural changes in knee OA patients with low vitamin D. Methods A multicentre, parallel randomized, placebo-controlled a...

Background Synovial inflammation plays an important role in knee osteoarthritis (OA), but the etiology is not well understood. Objectives The aim of this cohort study was to investigate its clinical significant, natural history and related factors. Methods A total of 406 subjects were randomly selected from the local community (mean 62 years, 50% f...

Objective: To describe the natural history of patellofemoral joint (PFJ) bone marrow lesions (BMLs) over 2.6 years and associations between change in PFJ BMLs, knee pain and knee cartilage morphology in older adults over 5 years. Methods: Prospective population-based cohort study of men and women aged 50-80 years (mean age 63 years, n=406) was p...

Objective: To describe associations between serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), knee bone marrow lesions (BMLs), and knee pain, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Patients (n = 192) with symptomatic knee OA (mean age 63 years, range 50–79, women 53%) were assessed at baseline and...

To examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of patellar BMLs with knee pain, cartilage defects and cartilage volume in older adults. A total of 904 randomly selected subjects (mean 62.4 years, 49.9% female) were studied. Fat suppressed T1-weighted spoiled gradient recall and T2-weighted fast spin echo magnetic resonance imaging (MR...

To describe the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between knee regional effusion-synovitis and structural changes in older adults. A total of 977 subjects were randomly selected from the local community (mean 62 years, 50% female) at baseline and 404 were followed up 2.6 years later. T2-weighted MRI was used to assess knee effusion-syno...

Laura L Laslett, Xingzhong Jin, Graeme Jones Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Background: Plant-derived therapies are traditionally used as medicines, but they have generally not been studied with the same rigor as pharmaceutical agents. This review summarizes the use of plant-derived produ...

Objective: The relationship between the endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) polymorphisms and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was inconsistent in the recent literatures, a meta-analysis was therefore performed. Methods: A total of 25 independent studies with 24,271 AS patients and 42,666 controls were included after searching electronic d...

Background: The role of vitamin D in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is largely unknown. This paper aims to examine the association between serum vitamin D levels and susceptibility and disease activity of AS. Methods: We searched the relevant literatures in PubMed, Elsevier Science Direct, Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowled...

Objective Endometriosis is the presence of an endometrial gland or stroma in sites other than the uterine cavity and it is frequently diagnosed in infertile women. It has not been well established whether laparoscopic surgery improves fertility. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery for subfertility rel...

Introduction Recent studies regarding the infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) mainly focus on the roles of the cells derived from the IPFP. There have been few clinical or epidemiological studies reporting on the association between the IPFP and knee osteoarthritis (OA). Our objective is to generate hypotheses regarding the associations between IPFP maxim...

Background Knee pain is a prominent symptom of osteoarthritis (OA). Joint synovial effusion could contribute to pain, but the relationship between them remains controversial. In addition, the effects of joint effusions at different knee compartments on knee pain are unclear. Objectives Aim of this study was to determine the cross-sectional and long...

Background Multiple joint pathological changes such as synovial effusion, cartilage and subchondral bone lesions are involved in osteoarthritis (OA). The causal relationship between joint effusion and other knee structural changes was not clear. Objectives This study aimed to determine the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between knee...

Background Obesity is one of the most important risk factors for knee pain in the elderly [1]. Cross sectional studies suggest that body fat mass is associated with knee pain and body lean mass may be protective [2, 3]. Few cohort studies have investigated the association between obesity, body composition and change in knee pain. Objectives To desc...

Objective To describe cross-sectional associations between mass effect or signal intensity alteration of the suprapatellar fat pad (SPFP) with knee symptoms and structure in older adults. Methods A cross-sectional sample of 904 randomly selected subjects (mean 62.4 years, 49.9% female) was studied. T1- or T2-weighted fat suppressed magnetic resona...

The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) is of uncertain significance for knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to describe the longitudinal associations between baseline IPFP maximal area and changes in knee pain, knee cartilage volume and cartilage defects in older adults. 356 community-dwelling male and female adults aged 50-80 years were measu...

Background Infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP), an intracapsular but extrasynovial structure, is situated in the knee under the patella, between the patellar tendon, femoral condyle and tibial plateau, and is structurally similar to subcutaneous adipose tissue. The exact function of IPFP in knee OA is still unknown. Objectives To determine the cross-secti...

Objective: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms may be associated with the risk of OA, however, evidence for this is controversial. This meta-analysis aims to confirm whether VDR gene polymorphisms are associated with OA. Methods: Meta-analyses on the association between OA and VDR ApaI, BsmI, TaqI and FokI polymorphisms were conducted us...

We would like to thank Dr Zeng et al 1 for the comments on our paper.2 Please see the point-to-point response as below: 1. As pointed out in the discussion of our paper, cross-sectional and case-control designs are not able to infer a causal relationship.2 The conclusion ‘low grade systemic inflammation may play a greater role in symptoms rather...

Background Recent studies consider infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) as an active joint tissue in the initiation and progression of knee OA, as inflammatory cells from IPFP can produce inflammatory mediators [1]. As a result, partial resection or total excision of IPFP is usually occurred in the process of knee surgery (e.g., knee replacement, arthrosco...

Although tamoxifen (TAM) is routinely used in advanced melanoma, it is still uncertain whether evidence exists to support this practice. This review assesses the benefits and harms of systemic therapy with TAM vs. without TAM on response and mortality in patients with advanced melanoma. MEDLINE, The Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, The Cochra...