Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Feb 14;13(1):R22.
doi: 10.1186/ar3246.

Relationships between biomarkers of cartilage, bone, synovial metabolism and knee pain provide insights into the origins of pain in early knee osteoarthritis

Muneaki Ishijima  1 , Taiji Watari, Kiyohito Naito, Haruka Kaneko, Ippei Futami, Kaori Yoshimura-Ishida, Akihito Tomonaga, Hideyo Yamaguchi, Tetsuro Yamamoto, Isao Nagaoka, Hisashi Kurosawa, Robin A Poole, Kazuo Kaneko
Affiliations

Relationships between biomarkers of cartilage, bone, synovial metabolism and knee pain provide insights into the origins of pain in early knee osteoarthritis

Muneaki Ishijima et al. Arthritis Res Ther. .

Abstract

Introduction: We tested the hypothesis that there exist relationships between the onset of early stage radiographically defined knee osteoarthritis (OA), pain and changes in biomarkers of joint metabolism.

Methods: Using Kellgren-Lawrence (K/L) grading early radiographic knee OA (K/L 2) was detected in 16 of 46 patients. These grades (K/L 1 is no OA and K/L 2 is early OA) were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of persistent knee pain. Sera (s) and urines (u) were analysed with biomarkers for cartilage collagen cleavage (sC2C and uCTX-II) and synthesis (sCPII), bone resorption (uNTx) and synovitis (hyaluronic acid: sHA).

Results: sCPII decreased and sC2C/sCPII, uCTX-II/sCPII and sHA increased with onset of OA (K/L 2 versus K/L 1) irrespective of joint pain. In contrast, sC2C and uCTX-II remained unchanged in early OA patients. Of the patients with K/L grades 1 and 2 sC2C, sCPII, sHA, uNTX and uCTX-II were all significantly increased in patients with knee pain independent of grade. Among the K/L grade 2 subjects, only uCTX-II and uCTX-II/sCPII were increased in those with knee pain. In grade 1 patients both sC2C and sCPII were increased in those with knee pain. No such grade specific changes were seen for the other biomarkers including sHA.

Conclusions: These results suggest that changes in cartilage matrix turnover detected by molecular biomarkers may reflect early changes in cartilage structure that account directly or indirectly for knee pain. Also K/L grade 1 patients with knee pain exhibit biomarker features of early OA.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Felson DT. Clinical practice. Osteoarthritis of the knee. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:841–848. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcp051726. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Felson DT. The sources of pain in knee osteoarthritis. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2005;17:624–628. doi: 10.1097/01.bor.0000172800.49120.97. - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO Scientific Group. The burden of musculoskeletal conditions at the start of the new millennium. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2003;919:1–218. - PubMed
    1. Dieppe PA, Lohmander LS. Pathogenesis and management of pain in osteoarthritis. Lancet. 2005;365:965–973. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71086-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Creamer P. Osteoarthritis pain and its treatment. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2000;12:450–455. doi: 10.1097/00002281-200009000-00019. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types