Serological Evidence Linking Viral Infections To Incident Risk Of Hip And Knee Osteoarthritis

Description

This episode of AI Talks with Bone & Joint, hosted by Simon and Amy, discusses a 2026 paper by J Fang and colleagues examining whether prior viral infections are associated with the future development of hip and knee osteoarthritis. Using UK Biobank data from 7,352 participants without osteoarthritis at baseline and multiplex serology to assess IgG antibodies against 20 infectious agents, the study followed participants for a median of 12.7 years. The discussion highlights that seropositivity to BK virus, human papillomavirus type 18, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, and Merkel cell polyomavirus was associated with higher risk of incident hip osteoarthritis, while cytomegalovirus was associated with higher risk of incident knee osteoarthritis. The hosts explore possible mechanisms, including chronic inflammation, synovitis, disrupted bone metabolism, and joint degeneration, and consider the implications for future screening, prevention, and treatment strategies such as vaccines or antiviral therapies. The episode concludes by emphasizing that osteoarthritis may involve infectious as well as mechanical and metabolic risk factors, and encourages listeners to read the full paper for more detail.

Specialties

Paper Links

https://boneandjoint.org.uk/Article/10.1302/2046-3758.154.BJR-2025-0299.R1