Fibulin-3 fragments for the prognosis of Osteoarthritis

The association between baseline concentration of serum fibulin (Fib)3-1, Fib3-2 and Fib3-3 and incidence of clinical and radiographic knee OA after 30 months of follow-up was evaluated.

All three Fib3 epitopes were associated with the incidence of the clinical and radiographic ACR-criteria and Fib3-1 and Fib3-3 also with chronic pain at follow-up. When adjusted for the other Fib3 peptide concentrations, only Fib3-1 was significantly associated to the incidence of the ACR criteria (OR 3.2 [1.2-8.7]) and chronic pain at follow-up (OR 3.0 [1.2-7.7]).