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Investigating the Association of Metabolic Biomarkers With Knee Cartilage Composition and Structural Abnormalities
Walid Ashmeik1, Joe D Baal1, Sarah C Foreman1,2
1Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Cartilage
|August 8, 2020
Summary
This study links higher fasting glucose and HbA1c to increased knee meniscus damage. Elevated total and non-HDL cholesterol also correlated with greater knee cartilage degeneration in middle-aged adults.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical research
- Orthopedics
- Metabolic health
Background:
- Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease.
- Metabolic syndrome components are increasingly linked to OA.
- Understanding these links can inform prevention and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between metabolic syndrome markers and knee OA phenotype.
- To explore cross-sectional relationships of glycemic markers and serum lipids with knee cartilage composition and structural abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 20 middle-aged adults (40-70 years) with early-stage knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence score 0-1).
- Assessed knee cartilage using T2 and T1ρ mapping on 3.0 T MRI.
- Evaluated structural abnormalities with the modified Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS).
- Used linear regression to analyze associations between glycemic markers (fasting glucose, HbA1c), lipids (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, non-HDL, triglycerides), and OA measures, adjusting for BMI.
Main Results:
- Higher fasting glucose and HbA1c were significantly associated with greater meniscal degeneration (WORMS meniscus sum).
- Higher total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol were significantly associated with greater cartilage degeneration (WORMS cartilage sum).
Conclusions:
- Elevated fasting glucose and HbA1c indicate increased meniscal degeneration in early knee OA.
- Increased total and non-HDL cholesterol levels are linked to more severe cartilage degeneration.
- These findings highlight the metabolic syndrome-associated phenotype of osteoarthritis.
