Metabolomics as a promising tool for early osteoarthritis diagnosis.

Metabolomics as a promising tool for early osteoarthritis diagnosis. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2017 Sep 21;50(11):e6485 Authors: de Sousa EB, Dos Santos GC, Duarte MEL, Moura V, Aguiar DP Abstract Osteoarthritis (OA) is the main cause of disability worldwide, due to progressive articular cartilage loss and degeneration. According to recent research, OA is more than just a degenerative disease due to some metabolic components associated to its pathogenesis. However, no biomarker has been identified to detect this disease at early stages or to track its development. Metabolomics is an emerging field and has the potential to detect many metabolites in a single spectrum using high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques or mass spectrometry (MS). NMR is a reproducible and reliable non-destructive analytical method. On the other hand, MS has a lower detection limit and is more destructive, but it is more sensitive. NMR and MS are useful for biological fluids, such as urine, blood plasma, serum, or synovial fluid, and have been used for metabolic profiling in dogs, mice, sheep, and humans. Thus, many metabolites have been listed as possibly associated to OA pathogenesis. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of the studies in animal models and humans, regarding the use of metabolomics as a tool for early osteoarthritis diagnosis. The concept of osteoarthritis as a metabolic disease and the importance of detecting a bi...
Source: Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research - Category: Research Tags: Braz J Med Biol Res Source Type: research