Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Early osteoarthritis detection in dogs using joint fluid tests
By de Bakker, E et al.·Published in Veterinary immunology and immunopathology·2021·Department of Small Animal Medical Imaging and Orthopaedics·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Detection of osteoarthritis in dogs by metabolic, pro-inflammatory and degenerative synovial fluid biomarkers and traditional radiographic screening: A pilot study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how to detect osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs earlier than traditional X-rays allow. Researchers found that measuring certain substances in joint fluid, like glucose and lactate, can help identify OA before it causes visible changes on X-rays. They also tested other markers related to inflammation and joint damage, which showed differences between healthy and OA-affected joints. While these new tests could help with early diagnosis, they didn't match up with the current X-ray scoring system. More research is needed to see how these tests can be used in practice.
People also search for: dog osteoarthritis symptoms · early detection of arthritis in dogs · joint fluid analysis for dog arthritis
Abstract
Secondary osteoarthritis (OA) is a slow progressive, common disorder of synovial joints in dogs. It is characterized by a loss of balance between the synthesis and degeneration of articular cartilage components. Its diagnosis is currently based on the presence of clear radiographic changes, which only occur in the later stages of the disease. Hence, early diagnosis of OA remains a major problem. Therefore, interest in synovial fluid (SF) biomarkers has emerged. Besides pro-inflammatory and degenerative markers, i.e. tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tenascin-c (TN-C) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), metabolic parameters, i.e. pH, glucose and lactate, can potentially be used to detect OA. The current study demonstrated statistically significant differences in the SF levels of pH, glucose and lactate between OA-affected and normal joints. In addition, the in-house validated immuno-assays for TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, TN-C and MMP-2 allowed to demonstrate also statistically significant differences in the SF concentrations for all these biomarkers - except TNF-alpha - between OA-affected and normal joints. However, no correlation was found between any of these biomarkers and the currently used radiographic scoring system for OA in dogs. Future research is warranted to explore the potential of these biomarkers in the early detection of OA and in the severity characterization of this disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34023616/