Establishment of reference intervals for osteoarthritis-related soluble biomarkers: the FNIH/OARSI OA Biomarkers Consortium.

Objective: To establish reference intervals for osteoarthritis (OA)-related biomarkers used in the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) OA Biomarkers Consortium Project.

Methods: A total of 129 'multijoint controls' were selected from 2722 African-American and Caucasian men and women in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project. The majority (79%) of those eligible (with biospecimens and baseline data) also had one or more follow-up evaluations 5-15 years later.