New test for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis

Researchers at King's College London's Twin Research Unit have discovered new ways of measuring metabolites in the blood which could be used to diagnose osteoarthritis earlier. Their new biochemical test called metabolomics allows the scientists to test for 163 chemical signals at the same time from a single blood sample. These chemical signals are indicators of the metabolism of human cells and their 26,000 metabolite ratios represent the chemical reactions going on in the human body. The team first studied 123 women with osteoarthritis of the knee and 299 healthy women from the Twins UK register, comparing the difference in the metabolites and the 26,000 metabolite ratios between the two groups. They found that 14 metabolite ratios were significantly associated with osteoarthritis. The team then tested these signals to see if they were replicated in an independent sample consisting of 76 women with knee arthritis and 100 healthy women. Two ratios were successfully confirmed in the replication sample.