title: Increased urinary type II collagen C-telopeptide levels in Tunisian patients with knee osteoarthritis.
abstract: Osteoarthritis is characterized by a progressive degeneration of articular cartilage and loss of joint function. Clinical assessment of osteoarthritis is hampered by the lack of accurate measures of disease and disease progression, especially during the early stage.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  To investigate urinary C-telopeptide fragments of type II collagen (CTX-II) levels in knee osteoarthritis in the Tunisian population compared with controls and to assess the association between this biomarker and radiological signs.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty five female patients with knee osteoarthritis, aged 53.6 +/- 7.6 years with disease duration of 3.6 +/- 3.8 years and 57 female age-matched controls underwent Lyon Schuss X-ray exams. Two experienced readers independently measured the joint space width (JSW) and classified each knee for severity using the Kellgren/Lawrence scale. The urinary concentration of CTX-II was measured by a competitive ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of urinary CTX-II were significantly higher in knee osteoarthritis patients compared with controls (323.98 vs 218.04 microg/mol creatinine). A weak and non significant association between the CTX-II level and JSW was found. The significant correlations were observed between age and CTX-II in both groups and between BMI and CTX-II only in controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of CTX-II in urine samples of Tunisian patients with knee osteoarthritis provided a sensitive method to detect increased degradation of collagen type II in patients with osteoarthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia. kalaie79@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalai
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahlous
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charni
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bouzid
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sahli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chelly
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meddeb
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zouari
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abdelmoula
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sellami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000652:urine*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D011859:Radiography; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D024043:Collagen Type II; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C543437:collagen II C-telopeptide