Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a multifactorial disorder that has been identified as a major source of disability. Greater urinary C-telopeptide pieces of type II collagen (UCTXII) amounts were associated with greater activity of the disease scores; thus, the purpose of the present research was to compare urinary CTX-II levels between patients with early KOA and control subjects, as well as to find out the relationship between urinary CTX-II levels, radiographic detection of OA, and outcome reported by patients.

Methods: This study involved 90 people, 45 with osteoarthritis (cases) and 45 healthy people (control group). All patients received a diagnosis with KOA using the 2016 ACR clinical and radiological categorization criteria. Everyone who participated in the study signed a written consent form. We included individuals with Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade 0 or 1 knee OA in our study.

Results: There was a statistically significant beneficial relationship among UCTXII and the WOMAC, the visual analogue scale score, C-reactive protein, and the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation at the Western Ontario and McMaster Colleges. There was, however, no substantial link among UCTXII and age or BMI. The optimum Urinary CTXII threshold value for distinguishing osteoarthritis patients from controls was > 85.25. This point demonstrated a high level of sensitivity and specificity, as well as a statistically substantial result.

Conclusion: According to our findings, urine C-telopeptide fragments of type II collagen (UCTXII) constitute an efficient, harmless, and viable method for detecting early knee OA.