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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Synovial Fluid Analysis to Identify Osteoarthritis
Published on: October 20, 2022
New approaches in the detection of calcium-containing microcrystals in synovial fluid
Aaron Hernandez-Santana1, Alexander Yavorskyy, Sinéad T Loughran
1Bioanalytical Chemistry & Diagnostics Group, School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Background:
The presence of calcium phosphate crystals such as basic calcium phosphate and calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate in intra-articular fluid is linked to a number of destructive arthropathies and detection of these deposits is often pivotal for early diagnosis and appropriate management of such disease.
Results:
We describe the use of a calcium-sensitive dye, Fluo-4, to selectively label calcium-containing mineral deposits in synovial fluid, which can then be easily visualized using a standard fluorescence microscope. Furthermore, we have combined the fluorescent properties of the tagged crystals with flow cytometry as a fast and semi-quantitative method of detection.
Conclusion:
Dot-plots were used to quantify differences between various types of arthropathies and confirmed by visual observation of the crystals under a fluorescence microscope.
