A blood test, developed by Duke Health researchers, can predict the risk of knee osteoarthritis at least eight years before the first signs on x-rays.
- A blood test can predict knee osteoarthritis at least eight years before signs of the disease appear on x-rays.
- Researchers have identified biomarkers that predict the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis.
- For the team, spotting osteoarthritis early could provide a “window of opportunity to stop the disease process and restore joint health.”
Three out of ten people aged 65 to 75 suffer from knee osteoarthritis. The disease, also called gonarthrosis, is caused by wear and then destruction of the cartilage, resulting from excess pressure on it. Currently, the diagnosis of the disorder is confirmed by knee x-rays. But when the latter occurs, the disease is already established. A team from Duke Health has developed a blood test that can detect it much more: at least eight years before the signs on the x-rays.
The discovery is the subject of an article published in the journal Science Advances April 26, 2024
Osteoarthritis of the knee: biomarkers make it possible to detect it 8 years earlier
In previous studies, the team identified biomarkers of osteoarthritis in the blood. Which allowed him to develop a test. During the first tests, the latter demonstrated an accuracy of 74% in predicting the progression of the gonarthrosis and an accuracy of 85% in its diagnosis.
Faced with these promising results, the researchers decided to continue their work to improve the predictive capabilities of the test and then carried out another experiment. This time, they used it to analyze the serum of 200 white women. Half of them suffered from knee osteoarthritis and the other half did not.
During analyses, scientists discovered that a small number of biomarkers successfully distinguished patients with gonarthrosis of those who did not suffer from it. These molecular signals of knee osteoarthritis were detectable in the blood eight years before the disease was visible x-rays, their data showed.
Blood test: detecting osteoarthritis early to prevent damage
For the authors of the article, the blood test has an advantage over current diagnostic tools for knee osteoarthritis: it detects the disease before it has caused structural damage to the joint.
“What our blood test demonstrates is that it is possible to detect this disease much earlier than our current diagnostics allow”adds lead author Dr. Virginia Byers Kraus in a communicated. “This is important because it provides more evidence that there are abnormalities in the joint that can be detected by blood biomarkers long before X-rays can detect osteoarthritis,” she adds.
For her, detecting osteoarthritis at an early stage “may provide a ‘window of opportunity’ to halt the disease process and restore joint health.”
