A new test that could diagnose early-stage arthritis several years before the onset of physical and irreversible symptoms could be available within two years.
Developed by researchers at the University of Warwick, England, the test identifies the chemical signatures found in the plasma of blood joint proteins damaged by oxidation, nitration and glycation.
They say that being able to diagnose at an early stage the type of arthritis a person will develop will enable medical staff to introduce appropriate treatment to offer the best chance of effective treatment.
Dr Naila Rabbani of Warwick Medical School, whose findings are published in Arthritis Research and Therapy, said the test can distinguish osteoarthritis (OA) from early-stage rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other self-resolving inflammatory joint disease.
For the research, the team recruited patients with early-stage and advanced OA, RA or other inflammatory joint disease as well as a control group of people who had good skeletal health. Plasma and synovial fluid samples from both groups were analysed using mass spectrometry.
The researchers found damaged proteins in characteristic patterns in patients with early and advanced OA and RA, but these were at much lower levels among the control group. This provided them with identifiable biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis.
Dr Rabbani said: “Damage to proteins in the arthritic joint has been known for many years but this is the first time it has been exploited for early-stage diagnosis.
“For the first time we measured small fragments from damaged proteins that leak from the joint into blood. The combination of changes in oxidised, nitrated and sugar-modified amino acids in blood enabled early stage detection and classification of arthritis – osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or other self-resolving inflammatory joint disease.
“This is a big step forward for early-stage detection of arthritis that will help start treatment early and prevent painful and debilitating disease.”
Ahmed U, Anwa A, Savage R et al. Protein oxidation, nitration and glycation biomarkers for early-stage diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee and typing and progression of arthritic disease. Arthritis Research and Therapy October 2016; doi: 10.1186/s13075-016-1154-3
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