To investigate whether radiographically evident osteoarthritis (ROA) in 55-65-year-old men and women is associated with specific alleles or genotypes of the cartilage matrix protein (CRTM) and cartilage link protein (CRTL1) genes.
Cases were selected from a population-based study on the presence of ROA of the knee or hip. Further radiographic analysis included scoring for spine and hand ROA. Controls, selected from the same population, were free of ROA in all joints.
The CRTM locus was significantly associated with hip ROA in men (odds ratio 0.50, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.95). A significant association between ROA and the CRTL1 gene was not observed.
These results suggest that the CRTM locus may play a role in the sex- and joint site-specific pattern of ROA development.