BIOMARKERS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

描述(申请人提供)：骨性关节炎是滑膜关节最常见的疾病，估计有12%的25岁及以上的美国人和30%的60岁以上的人会引起疼痛和残疾。最广泛使用的治疗方法是缓解疼痛症状的止痛药，最终是关节置换。骨关节炎倡议(OAI)成立于2000年，是一项膝关节健康研究，旨在建立和维护骨关节炎的自然病史数据库，其中包括临床评估数据、放射(X光和磁共振)图像和生物谱库，这些数据来自2004年2月至2006年5月期间登记的4796名年龄在45-79岁的男性和女性。目前还没有实验室测试来帮助做出或确认骨性关节炎的诊断，预测骨性关节炎的进展，或确定治疗是否改变了疾病的进程。OA的生物标志物领域相对较新，最近开发的用于OA诊断和进展的标志物目前正在测试中。在这一点上，在研究人群中有了令人兴奋的新结果，新的生物标记物也被发现了。继2004年、2005年和2006年成功举办了NIAMS/NIA赞助的生物标记物网络讲习班之后，计划在今后四年内再举办三个开放式获取生物标记物讲习班。它们将大约每18个月发生一次，涵盖目前生物标记物领域的一系列利益。最初的会议将是以前会议的直接延续，在前几次会议中，将报告目前对生化生物标记物的研究和使用生物标记物的临床研究结果以及新的验证标准。“第二届骨关节炎生物标记物研讨会将重点介绍骨关节炎遗传学和全基因组筛选的最新进展，以确定疾病、疾病风险和治疗的生物标记物的新靶点。“第三届骨关节炎生物标记物工作坊将重点介绍X光、核磁共振和其他成像技术作为骨关节炎生物标记物的应用。将建立一个网站，重点介绍与生物标记物相关的信息。在许多其他医学领域，特别是癌症，生物标记物已成为诊断和分析疾病进展的金标准。随着骨质疏松症在社会上的影响如此之大，开发有效的生物标记物是至关重要的，它将使疾病的治疗得到适当的规划，并鼓励疾病修改药物的开发。”

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Osteoarthritis is the most common disorder of the synovial joint, causing pain and disability in an estimated 12 percent of Americans age 25 and older and 30% of those over 60. The most widely used treatments are analgesic medications to relieve pain symptoms and ultimately, joint replacement. The OsteoArthritis Initiative (OAI) was established in 2000 as a knee health study to establish and maintain a natural history database for osteoarthritis that includes clinical evaluation data, radiological (x-ray and magnetic resonance) images, and a biospecimen repository from 4796 men and women ages 45-79 enrolled between February 2004 and May 2006. At present there are no laboratory tests to help make or confirm an OA diagnosis, predict the progression of OA or determine whether therapies may be altering the course of the disease. The field of biomarkers for OA is relatively new, and recently developed markers for OA diagnosis and progression are currently being tested. At this point, exciting new results are available on study populations and novel biomarkers have been discovered. Following up on the successful NIAMS/NIA sponsored Biomarkers Network Workshops in 2004, 2005 and 2006, three additional OA Biomarker Workshops are planned over the next four years. They will occur approximately every 18 months and cover the range of current interests in the biomarkers field. "The initial meeting will be a direct continuation of the previous meetings wherein current research on biochemical biomarkers and results of clinical studies using the biomarkers will be reported as well as new validation criteria. " The second OA Biomarker Workshop will highlight the recent exciting advances in the genetics of OA and the use of genome wide screening to identify new targets for biomarkers of disease, risk of disease, and therapeutics. "The third OA Biomarker Workshop will highlight the use of imaging modalities such as X-rays, MRI and other imaging techniques as biomarkers for OA. A Website will be established that highlights information related to biomarkers. In many other fields of medicine, in particular cancer, biomarkers have become the gold standard in the diagnosis and analysis of progression of disease. With OA having such a high impact on our society, it is critical that valid biomarkers be developed that will allow proper planning of treatment of the disease and encourage the development of disease-modifying drugs.