Original title: New blood test can detect arthritis 8 years earlier than X-ray

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, April 28 (Reporter Zhang Jiaxin) Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Researchers from Duke University Global Health Center reported that a new serum biomarker through blood testing can predict knee osteoarthritis, 8 years earlier than the time when this disease was detected by X-ray. Relevant papers were published in the latest issue of the journal Progress in Science.

The current X-ray diagnostic methods usually recognize arthritis only after the knee joint has structural damage.

Now, the research team of Duke University has found that there is a biomarker in the blood that can distinguish women with knee osteoarthritis from women without this disease. It can even capture the molecular signal of osteoarthritis eight years before many women are diagnosed as knee osteoarthritis by X-ray.

The study investigated 200 white women from Britain, 100 of whom were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, and the other 100 did not have this disease as a control group.

The results showed that only 6 serum peptides (corresponding to 6 proteins) were needed to distinguish the people who might suffer from osteoarthritis after 8 years and the control people who would not suffer from osteoarthritis after 8 years with a 74% probability.

The current study further confirmed the accuracy of blood tests and identified key biomarkers of osteoarthritis. Experiments show that it can predict the development of disease.

The researchers say this is important because blood tests provide more evidence than x-rays that there are abnormalities in joints. This will provide a "window of opportunity" for early osteoarthritis to prevent disease development and restore joint health.