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In addition to JSW measurement, objective evaluation of osteophyte formation and subchondral bone density is possible on standard radiographs. The measured differences between OA and healthy individuals suggest that KIDA allows detection of changes in time, although sensitivity to change has to be demonstrated in long-term follow-up studies.

Osteoarthritis is a highly prevalent disease, age being the main risk factor. The age-related accumulation of advancedglycation-endproducts (AGEs) adversely affects the mechanical and biochemical properties of cartilage. The hypothesis that accumulation of cartilage AGEs in combination with surgically induced damage predisposes to the development of osteoarthritis was tested in vivo in a canine model. To artificially increase cartilage AGEs, right knee joints of eight dogs were repeatedly injected with ribose/ threose (AGEd-joints). Left joints with vehicle alone served as control. Subsequently, minimal surgically applied cartilage damage was induced and loading restrained as much as possible. Thirty weeks after surgery, joint tissues of all dogs were analyzed for biochemical and histological features of OA. Cartilage pentosidine levels were $5-fold enhanced (p ¼ 0.001 vs. control-joints). On average, no statistically significant differences in joint degeneration were found between AGEd and control-joints. Enhanced cartilage pentosidine levels did correlate with less cartilage proteoglycan release (R ¼ À0.762 and R ¼ À0.810 for total and newly-formed proteoglycans, respectively; p ¼ 0.028 and 0.015 for both). The current data support the diminished cartilage turnover, but only a tendency towards enhanced cartilage damage in AGEd articular cartilage was observed. As such, elevated AGEs do not unambiguously accelerate the development of early canine OA upon minimal surgical damage. Keywords: osteoarthritis; non-enzymatic glycation; canine; pentosidine; proteoglycan Osteoarthritis (OA), with a high prevalence and increasing incidence due to the aging population, having a large impact on the patient's quality of life, is characterized by progressive cartilage damage, bone changes, and secondary synovial inflammation. 1 As yet, the pathogenesis of OA is largely unknown. Several factors have been reported to predispose to the development of OA, such as genetic background, overweight, joint laxity, and muscle weakness. 2 However, undisputedly, the most important risk factor for development of OA is age. 3 The incidence of OA increases strongly with age: >50% of the population over 60 years of age is affected. 4,5 However, there are still many uncertainties how age contributes to the onset and progression of OA. Age-related changes in the articular cartilage are suggested to play an important role in the susceptibility of cartilage to OA.One of the major age-related changes in articular cartilage is the spontaneous modification of proteins by non-enzymatic glycation resulting in the accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). Nonenzymatic glycation is a post-translational modification of proteins by reducing sugars. The spontaneous condensation of reducing sugars with free amino groups in lysine or arginine residues on proteins leads to the formation of AGEs. 6 Pentosidine, a fluorescent AGE formed between lysine and arginine residues, is frequently used as marker for AGEs. AGEs are formed in all pr...

Objectives The prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is the same in men and women; however, the latter experience a higher burden of disease and are affected more frequently by polyarthritis. Here, we performed an early PsA cohort analysis to assess sex-related differences in demographics, disease characteristics, and evolution over 1 year including applied treatment strategies. Methods Our study is embedded in the Dutch south-west Early Psoriatic Arthritis cohoRt. We described patient characteristics and treatment decisions. For the comparison across sexes and baseline and 1 year follow-up, appropriate tests depending on the distribution were used. Results Two hundred seventy-three men and 294 women with no significant differences in age and ethnicity were included. Women reported significantly longer duration of symptoms before diagnosis and significantly higher tender joint count, a higher disease activity, higher levels of pain, and lower functional capacity. Although minimal disease activity (MDA) rates increased over time for both sexes, MDA remained significantly more prevalent among men at 1 year (58.1% vs 35.7%, p < 0.00). Initially, treatment strategies were similar in both sexes with methotrexate being the most frequently used drug during the first year. Women received methotrexate for a shorter period [196 (93–364) vs 306 (157–365), p < 0.00] and therefore received a lower cumulative dose compared to men. Retention time was shorter for all DMARDs, and women had a delayed start on b-DMARDs. Conclusion After 1 year of standard-of-care treatment, women did not surpass their baseline disadvantages. Despite the overall improvement, they still presented higher disease activity, higher levels of pain, and lower functional capacity score than men. The nature of these findings may advocate a need for sex specific adjustment of treatment strategies and evaluation in early PsA patients.