Abstract
BackgroundThe aims of this study were to analyse the serum concentrations of clusterin (CLU) in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA) and in healthy controls, to compare CLU levels between patients with erosive and non-erosive disease, and to examine the association of CLU levels with clinical and laboratory parameters.MethodsA total of 135 patients with hand OA (81 with erosive and 54 with non-erosive disease) and 53 healthy individuals were included in this study. All patients underwent clinical and hand joint ultrasound examination. The Australian/Canadian (AUSCAN) hand osteoarthritis index, algofunctional index and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for the measurement of pain were assessed. Serum levels of CLU were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).ResultsSerum levels of CLU were significantly lower in patients with hand OA than in control subjects (p < 0.0001). In addition, patients with erosive hand OA had significantly lower CLU levels than those with non-erosive disease (p = 0.044). Negative correlations between CLU levels and pain as assessed by the AUSCAN score and the VAS were found in patients with erosive hand OA (r = − 0.275; p = 0.013 and r = − 0.220; p = 0.049, respectively).ConclusionThe present study demonstrates that lower concentrations of CLU are found in hand OA patients than in healthy individuals, especially in those with erosive disease, and that CLU concentrations have a negative association with hand pain.
Highlights
The aims of this study were to analyse the serum concentrations of clusterin (CLU) in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA) and in healthy controls, to compare CLU levels between patients with erosive and non-erosive disease, and to examine the association of CLU levels with clinical and laboratory parameters
The AUSCAN total score and its subscale for pain were significantly higher in patients with erosive than in those with non-erosive OA (p = 0.048 and p = 0.032, respectively)
Clusterin levels are lower in patients with hand OA The serum concentrations of CLU were significantly lower in the patients with hand OA than in the healthy subjects (63.12 ± 7.17 vs 72.02 ± 12.19 μg/ml; p < 0.0001) (Fig. 1a)
Summary
The aims of this study were to analyse the serum concentrations of clusterin (CLU) in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA) and in healthy controls, to compare CLU levels between patients with erosive and non-erosive disease, and to examine the association of CLU levels with clinical and laboratory parameters. Hand OA is common among the elderly, especially in women. It may cause pain and disability, and it negatively affects the patients’ quality of life [1, 2]. Erosive OA typically has an abrupt onset and is accompanied by local inflammation and worse symptoms than non-erosive disease [3]. Nuclear clusterin (nCLU) arises via an alternative splicing of the CLU gene leading to exclusion of exon II [6] and acts as a pro-apoptotic molecule [7]. Cellular forms of CLU are relatively rare, and their function is still poorly understood, but it does not appear that they affect the apoptotic pathway [8]
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