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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Measuring Diurnal Rhythms in Autophagic and Proteasomal Flux
Published on: September 17, 2019
PIIANP and HELIXII diurnal variation
D J Quintana1, P Garnero, J L Huebner
1Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, United States.
Objective:
Serum levels of procollagen type IIA N-terminal propeptide (sPIIANP) and type-II collagen helical peptide (sHELIXII) biomarkers were evaluated for variation diurnally and with physical activity and food in participants with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
Methods:
Forty participants with OA of at least one knee were admitted overnight to the General Clinical Research Center for serial serum sampling. Samples were obtained on the evening (6-8 pm) of Day 1 (T3, n=40); prior to rising (8 am) from bed (T0, n=40); 1 h after rising (9 am) without food consumption (T1a, n=20); 1-2 h after rising (9-10 am) with food consumption (T1, n=40); and additionally at noon, 4 h after rising (T2, n=20). sPIIANP and sHELIXII were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results were analyzed using non-parametric Freidman's test with Dunn's post-hoc multiple comparison test.
Results:
Normalized mean concentrations for sPIIANP and sHELIXII increased significantly from T0 to T1 (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
This is the first study to demonstrate diurnal variation of these collagen-II biomarkers in individuals with knee OA. These results suggest that serum sampling for these markers should be standardized for purposes of clinical trials.
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