title: Association between the severity of knee osteoarthritis and serum cartilage biomarker levels.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. However, there has been no cost-effective tool for the investigation of the severity and progression of the disease because using OA standard diagnostic methods causes cartilage damage.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship between serum chondroitinsulphate WF6 (CS-WF6) and hyaluronate (HA) and the severity of knee OA according to Kellgren-Lawrence (K/L) grades of radiographic severity and minimal joint space width (JSWV).
  
  
  METHODS
  One-hundred and twenty-six patients with OA (knee) according to K/L grades were classified into four groups. The JSW of the tibiofemoraljoint were measured from standing PA radiographs. Serum CS-WF6 and HA were analyzed by the ELISA based technique. One-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni's method and Kendall's tau coefficient relation test were performed to evaluate the association of K/L grades and JSW with levels of CS-WF6 and HA, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum CS-WF6 levels in grade 4 were significantly increased when compared with the other grades (p < 0.05). The serum HA level did not show any significant difference among the grades of severity. The serum CS-WF6 level showed a significant negative correlation with the JSW and its levels rose rapidly to the level beyond 300 ng/ml. There was no correlation found between the levels of serum HA and JSW CONCLUSION: WF6 levels may be useful in identifying patients at risk of rapid progression reflected by a point of an abruptly high WF6 level. The determination of WF6 in the serum showed increasing levels in more severe grades, so it could be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. There were some limitations because of broad distribution and overlap with the normal range. Thus, it may not be suitable as a diagnostic tool.
authors.forename: Apiruk
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sangsin
authors.forename: Dumnoensun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pruksakorn
authors.forename: Sirichai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luevitoonvechkij
authors.forename: Peraphan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pothacharoen
authors.forename: Prachya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kongthaweelert
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates