URIC ACID CORRELATION WITH SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND IMAGING FEATURES INTENSITY OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS IN JORDANIAN PARTICIPANTS

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis occupies the eleventh most participant of worldwide disability. Twenty % of persons of 45 years’ age or more experience knee osteoarthritis. The risk of having clinical knee osteoarthritis is 45% (40% in men and 47% in women), with increased risk (60.5%) in obese individuals. Uric acid might participate in the production of osteoarthritis.

Objective: To assess the correlation between uric acid and symptomatology with imaging features intensity of knee osteoarthritis in Jordanian subjects.

Methods: This prospective and observational investigation included 211 subjects, of both sexes and with medial knee osteoarthritis, at Jordanian rehabilitation center, King Hussein medical center, Amman, JORDAN, during the period Sep.2021-Feb.2022, to determine the correlation between uric acid and symptomatology features intensity in terms of Western Ontario and McMaster osteoarthritis Index (pain, stiffness, function and total scores) and with imaging features intensity according to Kellgren-Lawrence scores. Subjects were divided into two groups: Group A with uric acid less than 7 mg/dl [n=155] and group B with uric acid more than 7 mg/dl [n=56].

Student’s t test was used for continuous variables and Chi-square with Mann-Whitney tests were used for categorical variables.

Results: There were 145 women and 66 men with knee osteoarthritis. One hundred and fifteen women had uric acid less than 7 mg/dl and 30 women had uric acid more than 7 mg/dl. Forty men had uric acid less than 7 mg/dl and 26 men had uric acid more than 7 mg/dl.

Pain, stiffness, function and total scores were remarkably more in increased uric acid group than in reduced uric acid group (P = 0.003, P = 0.018, P =0.017, P = 0.007, respectively). Increased uric acid group experienced more Kellgren-Lawrence score IV (P = 0.000) than reduced uric acid group.

Women with knee osteoarthritis in increased uric acid group experienced remarkably more pain, stiffness, function and total WOMAC scores than in reduced uric acid group (P = 0.002, P = 0.014, P = 0.007, P = 0.003, respectively), more Kellgren-Lawrence score IV (P = 0.002) than in reduced uric acid group. Female gender, period of knee osteoarthritis and uric acid were correlated with Kellgren- Lawrence intensity. For women with knee osteoarthritis, Kellgren-Lawrence intensity was correlated with period of knee osteoarthritis and uric acid.

Conclusion: Increased uric acid was correlated with increased symptomatology features intensity and increased imaging Kellgren-Lawrence scores in subjects with knee osteoarthritis. Uric acid was remarkably correlated with knee osteoarthritis intensity in women, but not in men.