Photo Credit: Tomwang112
A new diagnostic test using a dual-biomarker algorithm can inform osteoarthritis diagnosis with high accuracy, according to a study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. The authors developed a combinatorial algorithm using cartilage oligomeric matrix protein and interleukin-8 (IL-8) concentrations to differentiate primary osteoarthritis from inflammatory arthritis. The researchers used a total of 171 human knee synovial fluid specimens to establish and validate clinical decision limits for cartilage oligomeric matrix protein concentration and the cartilage oligomeric matrix protein-to-IL-8 ratio. The researchers found that clinical sensitivity and specificity were 87.0% and 88.9%, respectively, for the osteoarthritis algorithm, with overall accuracy of 88.3%. The osteoarthritis algorithm had an area under the curve of 0.93 in an analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve derived for the osteoarthritis algorithm ratios calculated on the primary osteoarthritis cohort versus the inflammatory arthritis cohort.
