Detection of cartilage diseases with MIA

#The present invention concerns a method for the diagnosis of cartilage diseases by the detection of MIA, a suitable reagent therefor as well as the use of antibodies to MIA for the detection of cartilage diseases.

#Cartilage diseases and in particular degenerative cartilage diseases can be attributed to different causes. These diseases of cartilage and joints are often referred to as arthritis. Arthritis forms can be classified according to the number of affected joints (monoarthritis, oligoarthritis, polyarthritis) according to their course (acute, subacute, chronic) or their cause (autoimmune, inflammatory, etc). Arthritis can for example develop due to an infection with bacteria or viruses, due to inflammatory processes in the case of diseases of the articular cartilage (arthroses), due to metabolic diseases such as gout or due to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatism (rheumatoid arthritis) or systemic lupus erythematodes. Apart from rheumatoid arthritis which is often associated with increased inflammatory parameters, osteoarthritis which usually progresses without a detectable inflammatory process is worthy of particular note.

#Up to now there are only a few unspecific or costly diagnostic methods in the state of the art for the detection of cartilage diseases such as for example arthritis. For example rheumatoid arthritis is at present diagnosed on the one hand on the basis of symptoms (swollen joints, pains in the joints, immobility) and on the other hand by the detection of rheumatoid factors, detection of the classical acute phase protein CRP (C-reactive protein), detection of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) or the determination of the blood sedimentation rate (BSR). X-ray examinations or nuclear spin tomography are used as expensive physical methods.

#ELISA test for the detection of MIA for the diagnosis of cartilage diseases

#Incubation buffer for the MIA-ELISA (weights stated per liter):

#______________________________________ NaH.sub.2 PO.sub.4 0.97 g Na.sub.2 HPO.sub.4 5.88 g di-Na tartrate 46 g synperonic F 68 5 g bovine IgG 1 g bovine albumin 2 g; the pH value is adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH. ______________________________________