ArticleArthritis research & therapy2026
RBP4-a risk factor in lipid metabolism-serves as an early diagnostic and prognostic marker of knee osteoarthritis progression.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundKnee Osteoarthritis (KOA) represents a prevalent chronic degenerative disorder. Currently, the diagnosis and monitoring of KOA are typically founded on clinical symptoms and imaging examinations when joint damage has already manifested. Consequently, reliable biochemical markers are highly demanded for the early diagnosis of osteoarthritis. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate whether serum retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) levels in patients with primary KOA can serve as a potential biomarker for early joint damage and to analyze their predictive value for the onset and progression of KOA.
methodsA case-control study was carried out at the First People’s Hospital of Hefei during the period from December 2024 to February 2025. A total of 160 participants were encompassed in the study (comprising 40 patients diagnosed with early-stage and 40 with late-stage KOA, and 80 age-matched healthy controls). Serum levels of RBP4, C-reactive protein (CRP), Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) were quantified using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was determined via the Infrared ESR Analyzer. Finally, an early diagnostic model for KOA was developed and evaluated for its predictive performance.
resultsRBP4 levels were significantly elevated in patients with KOA, with late-stage disease exhibiting markedly higher concentrations compared to early-stage counterparts. Serum RBP4 exhibited a positive correlation with symptom duration, age, Body Mass Index (BMI), visual analogue pain scores (VAS), Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) grade, MRI grade, CRP, COMP, and MMP-3, but negatively correlated with hospital for special surgery knee score (HSS). The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for the diagnosis of RBP4 is 0.878, and the AUC for differentiating controls and early-stage KOA is 0.832.
conclusionSerum RBP4 is a lipid metabolism–related biomarker that correlates with KOA severity and exhibits strong early-stage diagnostic performance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.