THE ROLE OF THE NON-COLLAGENOUS CARTILAGE OLIGOMERIC MATRIX PROTEIN AS A MARKER OF DISEASE ACTIVITY AND JOINT DESTRUCTION IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND OSTEOARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder· which may lead to pronounced damage of the joints. The destruction of cartilage and juxta-articular bone represents the ultimate consequence of this inflammatory process that disturbs the balance between the matrix synthesis and degradation.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, heterogenous and complex joint disorder that is characterized by the progressive destruction of articular cartilage and concomitant changes in the subchondral bone.

During turnover of cartilage matrix in normal and diseased joints, fragments of matrix molecules and other markers of cartilage metabolism are released into the synovial fluid then later into the circulation.

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is one of the biochemical markers of cartilage turnover. It is a pentameric glycoprotein found in articular, nasal and tracheal cartilage. It is also produced by synovial cells but articular cartilage appears to have the highest content of COMP.

This thesis was carried out to study serum and synovial fluid COMP levels in OA and RA patients and correlate its