Association between metabolic syndrome and knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent chronic joint disease in China. The aim of this study was to examine the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and knee OA in a population-based Chinese study.MethodsData included in this analysis is from a cross-sectional study, i.e., the Xiangya Hospital Health Management Center Study. MetS was diagnosed according to the criteria defined by the Chinese Diabetes Society. Radiographic knee OA was defined as changes equivalent to Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade 2 or above at least one side. Associations between MetS and its components with OA were evaluated by conducting multivariable adjusted logistic regression.ResultsA total of 5764 participants were included in the present study. The unadjusted OR (1.27, 95%CI: 1.10–1.47, P = 0.001), age-sex adjusted OR (1.17, 95%CI: 1.01–1.36, P = 0.041) and multivariable adjusted OR (1.17, 95%CI: 1.01–1.36, P = 0.043) all suggested a positive association between MetS and knee OA. Besides, its components (e.g., overweight, hypertension and dyslipidemia) were also associated with the prevalence of radiographic knee OA respectively, after adjusting for some confounding factors. In addition, with the accumulation of MetS components, the prevalence of knee OA increased. Furthermore, MetS as a whole was associated with the prevalence of knee osteophyte (OSP) (OR = 1.72, 95%CI: 1.42–2.09, P < 0.001), but not joint space narrowing (JSN) (OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 0.91–1.23, P = 0.449).ConclusionsThe findings of the present study indicated that there was a positive association between the prevalence of MetS and knee OA. However, MetS as a whole was associated with the higher prevalence of knee OSP, but not JSN, which should shed light on our understanding the association between MetS and OA.

Dyslipidemia Might Be Associated with an Increased Risk of Osteoarthritis

“…Seven studies reported data on knee or hip osteoarthritis, but not all of the studies were adjusted for BMI or physical activity. Zhou et al [39], Xie et al [37], Engstrom et al [35], Han et al [36], and Monira Hussain et al [34] reported on knee or hip osteoarthritis adjusted for physical activity (activity level). Hussain et al [34] reported on knee osteoarthritis adjusted for BMI.…”

“…Eventually, after evaluation of the full texts, eight studies were excluded for the reason that they did not satisfy our inclusion criteria: three studies offered inadequate information [25][26][27], three studies did not offer ORs or RRs for OA or adequate information to calculate these variables [28][29][30], and two studies were removed that either did not have dyslipidemia as an exposure or did not have OA as an outcome [31,32]. Ultimately, nine available observational articles were recognized for our meta-analysis [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Table 1 presents the principal features of the studies included in the meta-analysis, all of which were observational studies.…”

“…Cross-Sectional. Two hospital-based, cross-sectional studies reported the influence of dyslipidemia on the risk of OA [37,39]. Both studies reported data on knee OA, and both reported an obvious connection of dyslipidemia with OA.…”

Osteoarthritis year in review 2018: imaging

“…Several studies have suggested a possible link between metabolic syndrome and OA 44e47 . A recent cross-sectional study base on Chinese population reported a positive association between metabolic syndrome and radiographic knee OA 48 . Interestingly, metabolic syndrome was associated with knee osteophytes but not with joint space narrowing.…”

Pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis: Risk Factors, Regulatory Pathways in Chondrocytes, and Experimental Models

“…In addition to the physical effects, obesity is associated with an increase in systemic metabolic inflammation, and is a risk factor of metabolic syndrome (MS) [54]. Population-based studies conducted in Japan, Nigeria, Egypt, and China have shown that the accumulation of MS components, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance, is strongly correlated with the presence of knee OA and associated advanced radiographic changes, severe pain, and increased functional impairment score [55][56][57][58]. Therefore, the connection between obesity and OA is attributed to not only mechanical loading and "wear-and-tear" at the cartilage surface, but also metabolic and inflammatory mediators, specifically degradative enzymes and adipose tissue-derived cytokines (known as adipokines) [59,60].…”