Mtdna d-loop variant mt16519c condition the rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the knee. a meta-analysis and functional study

Purpose: The development of a tool capable of identifying patients suffering the rapid progressive phenotype of Osteoarthritis (RPOA) was established as a goal in order to implement prevention strategies and to include them in clinical trials. Previous results from our group showed that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation plays a fundamental role in the susceptibility and incidence/progression of the disease, but the influence of mtDNA in the development of RPOA remains to be elucidated. Our aim in the present study is to analyze the entire mtDNA molecule through next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques to find new polymorphisms related to the RPOA phenotype in order to develop a predictive model.