Osteoarthritis biomarker could help 300 million people worldwide

Date:
October 12, 2020
Source:
University of South Australia
Summary:
Researchers are a step closer to finding a new biomarker for
osteoarthritis, a painful condition which affects more than 300
million people worldwide.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Using new state-of-the-art imaging techniques to identify signs of osteoarthritis (OA), UniSA scientists are learning more about changes
at the molecular level which indicate the severity of cartilage damage.


==========================================================================
A study led by PhD student Olivia Lee and her supervisor Associate
Professor Paul Anderson using mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has mapped complex sugars on OA cartilage, showing different sugars are associated
with damaged tissue compared to healthy tissue.

The finding will potentially help overcome one of the main challenges
of osteoarthritis research -- identifying why cartilage degrades at
different rates in the body.

"Despite its prevalence in the community, there is a lot about
osteoarthritis that we don't understand," Prof Anderson says.

"It is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases, yet there are limited diagnostic tools, few treatment options and no cure." Existing OA biomarkers are still largely focused on bodily fluids which are neither reliable nor sensitive enough to map all the changes in cartilage damage.



==========================================================================
By understanding the biomolecular structure at the tissue level and how
the joint tissues interact in the early stages of osteoarthritis, UniSA researchers say any molecular changes could be targeted to help slow
the progression of the disease with appropriate medication or treatment.

Osteoarthritis affects an estimated 2.2 million Australians and more than
300 million people worldwide, with those aged over 45 most at risk. Being female, overweight, and having existing joint injuries increases the
risk of getting OA.

In Australia, $3.75 million is spent on joint replacements alone for osteoarthritis patients each year, and other indirect costs related to
lost work productivity and loss of wellbeing are estimated to be more
than $23 billion a year.

In a recent paper published in the International Journal of Molecular
Sciences, Lee and her colleagues from UniSA's Musculoskeletal Biology
Research Laboratory and the Future Industries Institute explore how
advances in mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to detect OA are promising.

"To date, diagnosing osteoarthritis has relied heavily on x-rays or MRI,
but these provide limited information and don't detect biomolecular
changes that signal cartilage and bone abnormalities," Lee says.

"By contrast, alternative imaging methods such as MSI can identify
specific molecules and organic compounds in the tissue section."
MSI has already demonstrated its strengths in identifying biomarkers
for different types of cancer, and UniSA researchers are hopeful it can
achieve the same for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_South_Australia. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yea-Rin Lee, Matthew T. Briggs, Mark R. Condina, Hamish Puddy,
Paul H.

Anderson, Peter Hoffmann, Julia S. Kuliwaba. Mass Spectrometry
Imaging as a Potential Tool to Investigate Human Osteoarthritis
at the Tissue Level.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020; 21 (17): 6414
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21176414 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012103149.htm

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