Levels of C-reactive protein, creatine kinase-muscle and aldolase A are suitable biomarkers to detect the risk factors for osteoarthritic disorders: A novel diagnostic protocol.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase-muscle (CK-MM) and aldolase A (AldoA) levels are predicted to be realistic biomarkers of osteoarthritic disorders (OADs). The objective of the study was to evaluate the levels of CRP, CK-MM, and AldoA and determine their correlations with risk factors such as inflammation, muscle degeneration, and skeletal muscle damage for OADs.

Methods: Baseline data from 297 patients, average aged 60.17±7.19 years, suffering with OADs for 5.75±1.32 years and 315 participants, average aged 58.96±8.63 years, without OADs were collected in this cross-sectional study. Separate analyses were performed for the participants with and without OAD symptoms confirming with X-ray or MRI. Blood CRP, CK-MM, and AldoA levels were estimated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and significance values were compared between participants with and without OADs to identify the risk factors for OADs in relation to biomarkers.

Results: In patients with OADs, who exhibited degenerative changes on musculoskeletal joints and risk factors based on the elevated levels of CRP, CK-MM, and AldoA having their mean±SD values, 7.22±6.09 mg/L,135.2±78.56 U/L and 8.09±2.15 U/L, respectively. Their respective values of areas under the curves (AUC) of ROC curves were 0.76, 0.68 and 0.91 respectively, of which all exhibited highly significant differences (p<0.0001) compared with the control subjects.

Conclusion: It is concluded from the results that the elevated levels of studied biomarkers represent the predictive above-mentioned risk factors during OADs; therefore, monitoring CRP, CK-MM and AldoA levels may be an effective diagnostic method confirming with radiological imaging.