United States: Knee arthritis could become as easy to diagnose as a simple test for the fluid that lines the joint.
Breakthrough in Arthritis Detection
According to a new study, most patients are diagnosed with arthritis of the knee only when the cartilage has eroded and bones of the joint are grinding against one another, as reported by HealthDay.
It is sometimes difficult to determine at this stage whether knee arthritis resulted from simple wear and tear or if an inflammatory disease is causing a person’s joint problems, the researchers pointed out in a study appearing Dec 18th in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.
But there is a new test with two molecules detected in synovial fluid of patients’ joints that might help docs sort out all this faster.
Revolutionary Test Targets Two Key Molecules
The test “addresses an unmet need for objective diagnosis of osteoarthritis to improve clinical decision-making and patient outcomes,” researcher Daniel Keter with CD Diagnostics, a division of Zimmer Biomet, said in a journal news release.
The researchers said the fluid test assails for a protein named cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and an inflammatory biochemical, Interleuing-8 (IL-8).
As growth factors are secreted during cartilage degeneration in “wear-and-tear” osteoarthritis patients, the levels of COMP are elevated in synovial fluid.
On the other hand, IL-8 decreases in osteoarthritis, while in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, it is high.
With the help of these two markers, researchers made the right identification of “wear-and-tear” osteoarthritis in 87% of the studied 171 knee synovial fluid specimens.
A Growing Health Concern
According to the authors and other researchers, osteoarthritis already affects up to 15% of US adults 60 years of age and older, and the numbers will rise, given the incidence of risk factors such as obesity and an aging population.
Such a test could help guide a person to the most effective arthritis treatment and help them do so faster.
“Differentiating primary osteoarthritis from other inflammatory arthritis types helps towards coming up with a better diagnosis that then helps in the right approach to the treatment of primary osteoarthritis,” the research team concluded, as reported by HealthDay.
However, they added that more research is needed to validate the test before it’s ready to be widely used.