2-1 Participant: Fifty patients who have with knee osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for the classification of OA of the knee (Altman et al., 1986) recruited from the out-patients' clinic and the inpatients of the Rheumatology, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine department of Benha University Hospital between January and April 2014. Fifty apparently healthy volunteers from nurse staff and patients’ relatives who don’t have osteoarthritis free from OA of comparable age and sex were carefully chosen to serve as a control group in order to minimize the age bias.
2-2 Clinical assessment: After approval of the study scheme by the ethical committee of Benha Faculty of Medicine , University and obtaining an informed consent from the participants, all patients were subjected to history taking including the basic demographic features, disease duration, medical history, general examination and complete clinical knee joint examination. Most of our patients were on chondroprotective drugs and irregular courses of different NSAIDS. Pregnant and nursing women, patients who were receiving anti-hyperlipidemic drugs, glucocorticoids, estrogen or other hormones and those who have any inflammatory autoimmune disorder were excluded from the study.
Measuring height (cm) using a stadiometer and weight (kg) using a digital scale, the body mass index (BMI) was calculated according to the formula:[Weight (kg) / Height (m)2]. Accordingly, each subject was classified as either non-obese (BMI < 30 kg/m2) or obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). Blood pressure was measured twice using a mercury column manometer after a minimum of 5 minutes of rest with participants in the seated position, and the average of the two values was used. Waist and hip circumferences (cm) were measured using a non-stretching tape to get waist: hip ratio. Waist circumference was measured at the horizontal plane between the inferior costal margin and the iliac crest on midaxillary line and hip circumference was measured from at the widest point of the hips.
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