An auxiliary diagnostic technology and clinical efficacy evaluation in knee osteoarthritis based on serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

A convenient serum pretreatment method based on coffee ring effect was combined with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to diagnose knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and evaluate the therapeutic effect of icariin. Partial least square (PLS) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms were employed to establish the discriminant model, and the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 100%, 98.33% and 98.89%, respectively, were achieved for screening KOA. [Display omitted] • Auxiliary diagnosis and efficacy evaluation in knee osteoarthritis based on SERS. • Robust and repeatable SERS signal based on the coffee ring effect. • Icariin treatment alleviated the pathological changes of knee osteoarthritis. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA), a progressive joint disease, is a leading source of chronic pain and disability, and its diagnosis mainly depends on medical imaging findings and clinical symptoms. This study aimed to explore an auxiliary diagnostic technology and clinical efficacy evaluation in KOA based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Three sequential experiments were performed: 1) preliminary observation of the therapeutic effects of icariin (ICA); 2) using serum SERS spectra obtained from rat models belonging to sham group, KOA group and icariin treatment group, respectively, to analyze the KOA-related expression profiles; 3) employing partial least squares (PLS) and support vector machines (SVM) algorithms to establish KOA diagnosis model. Pathological changes verified the efficacy of icariin in KOA. Raman peak assignment combined with spectral difference analysis reflected the biochemical changes associated with KOA, including amino acid, carbohydrates and collagen. ICA intervention significantly reversed these changes, although full recovery could not be achieved. Based on PLS-SVM approach, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 100%, 98.33% and 98.89%, respectively, were obtained for screening KOA. This work proves that SERS has great potential to be used as an auxiliary diagnostic technology for KOA, and is also helpful for the exploration of novel KOA treatment agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]