Blood test spots arthritis 2 years before symptoms

A SIMPLE blood test for the most common form of arthritis costing under £200 could detect the condition two years before any symptoms.

The osteoarthritis test, which requires just a single drop of blood, is 98 per cent accurate and picks up a protein fragment released into the bloodstream by joint damage. It could be available for use within two years.

Currently 8.5million people in Britain suffer from osteoarthritis. Often it is diagnosed at such a late stage that a hip or knee replacement is the only option.

But the test could help people catch the condition early, so they could make changes such as losing weight or doing exercise to try to avoid debilitating symptoms later on. Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear of the cartilage which helps our joints cope with bending and lifting.

Researchers led by the University of Liege in Belgium and the University of Warwick first detected the protein glucosepane in people with osteoarthritis three years ago. It is released into the blood when joints start being damaged by arthritis.

Now a study comparing 66 osteoarthritis patients with 29 healthy people has found glucosepane levels are 38 per cent higher among those in the early stages of the condition. The protein is six times higher in those who have severe osteoarthritis.

Dr Naila Rabbani, of the University of Warwick Medical School, said: ‘This test can pick up osteoarthritis two years before any symptoms and three to four years before severe pain.’ The next step is to test it in thousands more patients.

Dr Natalie Carter, of Arthritis Research UK, said the study was ‘really promising’.