Intraarticular injection of high molecular weight hyaluronan for osteoarthritis of the knee - prediction of effectiveness with biological markers.

Objective: The possibility of predicting the effectiveness of intraarticular injection of high molecular weight hyaluronan (HA) was investigated using biological markers.

Methods: In 32 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, 38 knees were treated with HA injection, and the clinical symptoms were evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and pain visual analog scale (VAS). The concentrations of chondroitin 6-sulfate, 4-sulfate (C6S, C4S), and aggrecan were measured in synovial fluid collected at the time of initiation of injection.