Knee osteoarthritis increases pain perception and alters interleukins (6 and 10) levels in patients in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disease which can affect any joint in the body, usually accompanied by pain. The onset and progression of the disease is determined by several factors such as genetic, gender, occupation and ethnicity. There is paucity of information on pain perception and biochemical profile in Osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA) patients in Nigeria.
Objective: To assess the pain perception and some biomarkers in osteoarthritic patients in South-west, Nigeria.
Design: A retrospective study
Setting: Nationally representing South-West region of Nigeria
Subjects: A total of sixty human adult subjects were used in this study (Control group, 30 healthy and KOA group, 30 diagnosed with OA) Main outcome measures: All the subjects underwent the Ischemia-induced pain test and blood samples were taken from them for the determination of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP).
Results: The results showed a significantly (p<0.05) higher pain threshold and pain tolerance in healthy individuals compared to KOA patients. There was also a significantly (p<0.05) elevated level of IL-6 in the serum of KOA patients compared to control (13.0 ± 0.7 vs 20.1±3.2 pg/dl) and a significantly (p<0.05) lower level of IL-10 in the serum of OA patients compared to control (14.3± 3.1 vs 4.1 ±0.5 pg/dl).
Conclusion: There was no difference in the serum level of CGRP in the control compared with the KOA group. In conclusion, KOA causes decrease in pain tolerance and threshold which is accompanied by alteration in vital biochemical parameters.