Serum Sirt6 as a Potential Biomarker for Osteoarthritis and its Correlation with IL-6 Alterations

Objective

The study aimed to assess Sirt6 levels in serum of knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients compared to healthy individuals to evaluate its correlation with OA and to understand how Sirt6 is linked with the change in IL-6 levels.

Methods

The cross-sectional study involved 50 knee OA patients clinically diagnosed as per the American College of Rheumatology guidelines and 50 healthy controls. Radiological examination as per Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) criteria was done to determine the disease severity. Peripheral blood samples were collected from each participant, and serum Sirt6 and IL-6 levels were measured using ELISA.

Results

The serum Sirt6 levels in knee OA patients were significantly lower as compared to healthy controls (p = 0.023). Patients with knee OA of KL grade 4 had significantly lower Sirt6 levels as compared to those with KL grade 2 OA (p = 0.031). Individuals of younger age group had higher Sirt6 levels compared to older age group. IL-6 levels in knee OA patients were significantly higher as compared to controls (p = 0.007). A negative correlation was observed between serum Sirt6 and IL-6 levels (r = − 0.407; p = 0.035).

Conclusion

The study concludes that serum Sirt6 levels are inversely associated with knee OA and may serve as a potential biomarker for the disease. Moreover, a negative correlation between Sirt6 and IL-6 levels was observed in this study. Further investigations are necessary to confirm these findings and to explore the mechanisms by which Sirt6 and IL-6 are involved in OA.