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Detection of osteoarthritis in knee and hip joints by FFC NMR

It is known that in the early stages of osteoarthritis (OA) the concentration of glycan proteins decreases in articular cartilage. This phenomenon is under active research to develop a means to characterise OA accurately in the early stages of the disease, when still reversible. However, no method of quantification has yet shown clear success in this area. In this paper we propose a novel approach to detect glycan depletion using Fast Field-Cycling NMR (FFC NMR). This technique was previously reported to allow non-invasive measurement of protein concentration via the 14 N quadrupolar relaxation in certain amide groups. We have demonstrated that articular cartilage exhibits clear quadrupolar peaks that can be measured by a benchtop FFC NMR device and which changes significantly between normal and diseased tissues (p < 0.01). This signal is probably glycan-specific. The method may have potential for early evaluation of OA in patients on FFC-MRI scanners currently under evaluation in the authors' laboratory.