The Promising Role of Calprotectin Level in Knee Osteoarthritis
Maria A. Hassan, Areej Sh. Hameed, Ekhlas K. HameedAbstract
Background:
Calprotectin is a calcium-binding protein generated locally at the site of inflammation. It is a useful surrogate for assessing local inflammation in chronic inflammatory diseases. Serum calprotectin levels might be a good alternative to radiographs to diagnose knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Objectives:
To evaluate the function of serum calprotectin in patients with knee OA.
Materials and Methods:
A case–control study was conducted at Baqubah Teaching Hospital/City (Diyala) between November 2023 and January 2024. One hundred and twenty women enrolled in this study; 80 of them had knee OA. They were diagnosed by rheumatologists and classified into early and late stages based on the Kellgren and Lawrence scale. The remaining 40 apparently healthy women with matched in age and body mass index as the control group. Serum calprotectin, C-reactive protein, calcium, and blood erythrocyte sedimentation rate were evaluated for all participants. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was utilized for the purpose of examining the outcomes.
Results:
Serum calprotectin level was elevated in individuals with knee OA as compared with the control group (74.31 ± 8.87 vs.18.97 ± 2.04 pg/mL,
Conclusion:
Serum calprotectin can be used as a promising biomarker in the diagnosis of knee OA. Calprotectin exhibits good discriminatory power in this diagnosis but not in the grading of such patients.