Specific DNA characteristics have shown that osteoarthritis may be a result of faster biological aging. The prevalence of osteoarthritis increases with age but the cause of the disease is unknown. In a study of nearly 1,100 people (age 30 to 79 and most of whom were female twins), hand x-rays were taken to confirm osteoarthritis and blood samples were drawn to analyze white cell DNA for signs of biological aging.

Study results, which will be reported in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, revealed that 160 people with hand osteoarthritis had significantly shorter telomere length than people without osteoarthritis even after factoring in certain risk factors including:

• obesity
• age
• gender
• smoking

Shortening of telomeres (the region of DNA at the end of linear chromosomes) has been associated with biological aging. All of the people in the study with hand osteoarthritis were 50 years old or older and the amount of telomere shortening equaled that seen over a period of 11 years in healthy individuals.

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