What did we learn from 'omics' studies in osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: 'Omics' technologies developed for the massive analysis of the major biologically relevant molecules (genes, proteins, metabolites) have been applied to the study of osteoarthritis (OA) for more than a decade.

RECENT FINDINGS: 'Omics' studies have undoubtedly contributed to increase the knowledge on pathogenic processes related with OA and have provided hundreds to thousands of molecules that might have a putative biomarker utility for this disease.

SUMMARY: This review describes the most recent 'omics' studies in OA research, their conclusions, and discuss those remaining challenges. Still many validation studies must be performed in large and well-characterized cohorts for the translation of the findings from 'omics' strategies to clinical applications. The development of tools for the intelligent integration of 'omics' data with clinical and imaging information is also mandatory to take full profit of the work that has been already performed.