European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluates the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and biomarkers in serum in various stages of osteoarthritis and establish their correlation with stages of Knee Osteoarthritis (OA).
Methods: This case control study was conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics and Biochemistry in Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College & Hospital, Pune. a total of 95 subjects between the age of 40 and 75 years were included out of which there were 63 cases of knee osteoarthritis, and 32 normal healthy subjects were included in control group. Pain at rest was assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) and patients were assessed on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria to determine the severity. Serum samples were collected from all the recruited patients and serum levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 , CTX-I and CTX-II were measured using ELISA.
Results: In our study cohort, 63 patients were osteoarthritis cases based on Kellegren & Lawrence grading of OA Knee. The most prevalent K/L grade was Grade 2 cases followed by grade 1. Average weight and average BMI of the cases was significantly higher than average weight and average BMI of the controls. Both cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly higher in the patients of Knee OA. Correlations of Bio markers with OA grades revealed a significant positive correlation between OA grades and IL-6 as well as TNF-α. Increased levels of CTX-I were also found indicating bone degradation in the Knee OA group.
Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that TNFα and IL-6 had a significant correlation with the grading of Knee OA. TNFα and IL-6 were found to be correlated with pain and therefore could serve as biomarkers of disease progression.