Bacterial arthritis
diseaseOn this page
Also known as infectious arthritispyogenic arthritisseptic arthritis
Summary
Bacterial arthritis (MONDO:0004471) is a disease (an umbrella term covering 6 Mondo subtypes) with 3 GWAS associations across 9 studies and 38 clinical trials. Top therapeutic interventions include cephalexin anhydrous, cefadroxil, and cefazolin. A subtype of bacterial infectious disease — broader associated-gene and molecular evidence is on the parent page (see Disease family below).
At a glance
- Umbrella term: 6 Mondo subtypes
- GWAS associations: 3
- Clinical trials: 38
Clinical features
No curated clinical features (Orphanet) for this disease.
Identifiers
Disease identifiers
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Canonical name | bacterial arthritis |
| Mondo ID | MONDO:0004471 |
| EFO | EFO:1001351 |
| MeSH | D001170 |
| DOID | DOID:813 |
| NCIT | C26699 |
| SNOMED CT | 48245008 |
| UMLS | C1692886 |
| MedGen | 308434 |
| GARD | 0027681 |
| Is cancer (heuristic) | no |
Also known as: infectious arthritis · pyogenic arthritis · septic arthritis
Data availability: 3 GWAS associations (9 studies).
Disease family
This is a subtype of bacterial infectious disease. Genetic, therapeutic, and trial evidence is largely curated at the broader-term level — see the parent page for the associated-gene cohort and molecular evidence.
Classification path: disease › human disease › disease by etiologic mechanism › disease of primarily extrinsic mechanism › infectious disease › bacterial infectious disease › bacterial arthritis
Related subtypes (51): primary bacterial infectious disease, commensal bacterial infectious disease, opportunistic bacterial infectious disease, chorioamnionitis, Clostridium difficile colitis, bacterial gastritis, bacterial pneumonia, Whipple disease, Aeromonas hydrophila infectious disease, Pectobacterium carotovorum infection, Pseudomonas infection, septic peritonitis, bacterial infectious disease with sepsis, empyema, bacterial urinary tract infection, bacterial sexually transmitted disease, meningococcal infection, pasteurellosis, peritonsillar abscess, pneumonic pasteurellosis, tracheitis, Actinobacillus infectious disease, bacterial conjunctivitis, bacterial endocarditis, bacterial meningitis, Bifidobacteriales infectious disease, haemophilus infectious disease, Proteus infectious disease, pulpitis, rat-bite fever, Rickettsiosis, vibrio infectious disease, Yersinia infectious disease, bacterial myositis, noma, idiopathic severe pneumococcemia, necrotizing soft tissue infection, mycobacterial infectious disease, escherichia coli infection, gram-negative bacterial infections, gram-positive bacterial infections, spirochaetales infections, skin disease caused by bacterial infection, staphylococcal infection, anaerobic bacteria infectious disease, Klebsiella infectious disease, fournier gangrene, botryomycosis, bacterial hemorrhagic fever, Mycoplasmoides infection, Enterococcus infectious disease
Subtypes (6): gonococcal infection of joint, periprosthetic joint infection, staphylococcus discitis, escherichia coli discitis, streptococcus pneumoniae discitis, salmonella discitis
Genetics & variants
GWAS landscape
3 GWAS associations across 9 studies. Top hits map to 1 distinct genes (as reported by GWAS).
Top associations by p-value
| rsID | p-value | Gene | Risk allele | Odds ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rs530847695 | 4e-12 | LINC02199 - SEMA5A | C | 3.25 |
| rs535575076 | 3e-11 | LINC01205 - NFYBP1 | G | 2.87 |
| rs150756630 | 5e-09 | UTP20 | ? |
Top studies (by case count)
| Study | Lead author | Year | Cases | Controls | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GCST90478866 | Verma A | 2024 | 2,141 | 447,039 | Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program. |
| GCST90473993 | UK Biobank Whole-Genome Sequencing Consortium | 2025 | 964 | 457,476 | Whole-genome sequencing of 490,640 UK Biobank participants. |
| GCST90478865 | Verma A | 2024 | 577 | 120,607 | Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program. |
| GCST90480495 | Verma A | 2024 | 577 | 120,607 | Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program. |
| GCST90080385 | Backman JD | 2021 | 508 | 387,264 | Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants. |
| GCST90084371 | Backman JD | 2021 | 508 | 387,264 | Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants. |
| GCST90651387 | Liu TY | 2025 | 373 | 215,661 | Diversity and longitudinal records: Genetic architecture of disease associations and polygenic risk in the Taiwanese Han population. |
| GCST90436646 | Zhou W | 2018 | 328 | 365,819 | Efficiently controlling for case-control imbalance and sample relatedness in large-scale genetic association studies. |
| GCST90482376 | Verma A | 2024 | 293 | 59,367 | Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program. |
Variant details and genetic-evidence tiers
Tier distribution (top 50 variants)
| Tier | Variants |
|---|---|
| Tier 1: coding | 0 |
| Tier 2: splice/UTR | 0 |
| Tier 3: regulatory | 0 |
| Tier 4: intronic/intergenic | 3 |
MAF distribution
| Bucket | Variants |
|---|---|
| common (>=0.05) | 0 |
| low_freq (0.01-0.05) | 0 |
| rare (<0.01) | 2 |
| unknown | 1 |
Functional consequences
| Consequence | Count |
|---|---|
| intergenic_variant | 2 |
| intron_variant | 1 |
Top variants
| rsID | Chr | Pos | Alleles | MAF | Consequence | Gene | p-value | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rs530847695 | 5 | 8935596 | C>T | 0 | intergenic_variant | LINC02199 - SEMA5A | 4e-12 | Tier 4: intronic/intergenic |
| rs535575076 | 3 | 109903887 | G>A,C | 0 | intergenic_variant | LINC01205 - NFYBP1 | 3e-11 | Tier 4: intronic/intergenic |
| rs150756630 | 12 | 101319917 | T>C | intron_variant | UTP20 | 5e-09 | Tier 4: intronic/intergenic |
Genes & proteins
No associated-gene cohort resolved for this disease. Atlas builds the molecular and therapeutic sections — associated genes, protein families, druggability, pathways, interactions, and drug associations — by aggregating over a disease’s associated genes (resolved via GWAS / GenCC / ClinVar / CIViC), and none resolved here. This is expected for antibody-mediated, autoimmune, or otherwise non-gene-defined conditions; the curated evidence for this disease is its clinical features, GWAS susceptibility, and clinical trials (above).
Function
No pathway enrichment — requires an associated-gene cohort.
Therapeutics
No druggable-target or therapeutic data for this disease’s cohort.
Clinical trials & evidence
Clinical trials
Clinical trials: 38.
Phase distribution (across all retrieved trials)
| Phase | Trials |
|---|---|
| Not specified | 29 |
| PHASE4 | 6 |
| PHASE2 | 1 |
| EARLY_PHASE1 | 1 |
| PHASE1 | 1 |
Top trials by phase / activity
| NCT | Phase | Status | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCT04538053 | PHASE4 | RECRUITING | BonE and Joint Infections - Simplifying Treatment in Children Trial |
| NCT06982105 | PHASE4 | RECRUITING | Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole vs. Clindamycin for the Treatment of Children With Invasive MRSA Infections |
| NCT03426761 | PHASE4 | COMPLETED | Dalbavancin For The Treatment of Gram Positive Osteoarticular Infections |
| NCT04141787 | PHASE4 | UNKNOWN | Ceftriaxone as Home IV for Staph Infections |
| NCT04563325 | PHASE4 | COMPLETED | Oral-only Antibiotics for Bone and Joint Infections in Children |
| NCT05521880 | PHASE4 | TERMINATED | Anchoring Sequential Intermittent Long Acting Antimicrobials With Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) for Invasive Infections Related to Opioid Use |
| NCT07440238 | PHASE2 | NOT_YET_RECRUITING | Evaluation of the Efficacy of Corticosteroids in Septic Arthritis in Adults |
| NCT03802552 | PHASE1 | COMPLETED | Cefadroxil and Cephalexin Drug Levels and Dosing in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Infections |
| NCT02508584 | EARLY_PHASE1 | COMPLETED | Personalized Immunotherapeutic for Antibiotic-resistant Infection |
| NCT03704766 | Not specified | RECRUITING | Alpha-Defensin and Synovial Proteins to Improve Detection of Pediatric Septic Arthritis |
| NCT06630988 | Not specified | ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING | Diagnostic and Management of Hand Infection. |
| NCT06827496 | Not specified | RECRUITING | Initial Oral Antibiotics for Bone and Joint Infections in Children |
| NCT07388017 | Not specified | RECRUITING | Infrared Thermography for Diagnosis of Musculoskeletal Infections |
| NCT00503438 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Ankle Joint Replacement Outcomes Study |
| NCT00714402 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Procalcitonin Level and Kinetics in Children With Bacterial Infections |
| NCT02018952 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Ultrasonography Assessment of Septic Arthritis on Native Joint |
| NCT02032732 | Not specified | TERMINATED | Utilization of Leukocyte Esterase in the Diagnosis of Pediatric Joint Infections |
| NCT02505828 | Not specified | COMPLETED | ARTEMIS Synovial Markers in Arthritis Childhood |
| NCT02530229 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Arthrocentesis Study |
| NCT02565160 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Analysis of Human Knee Joint Fluid Using Metabonomic, Genomic and Tribology Techniques |
| NCT03716921 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Short 3-week Antibiotic Treatment Versus 6 Weeks in Adults With Septic Arthritis of Native Joint |
| NCT03827759 | Not specified | TERMINATED | Differentiate Children Septic and Inflammatory Arthritis by Comparative Analysis |
| NCT03827980 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Long- and Midterm Outcomes of Osteoarticular Infections in Paediatric Patients |
| NCT03846804 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Next-Generation Sequencing for Pathogen Detection and Quantification in Children With Musculoskeletal Infections |
| NCT03979937 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Development and Validation of a Simple Diagnostic Tool Predictive of the Aseptic Character of Joint Effusion |
| NCT04284423 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Study of Synovial Lactate Level as Marker of Septic Arthritis |
| NCT04786379 | Not specified | TERMINATED | Surgical Management of Knee Septic Arthritis |
| NCT04952220 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Exploratory Study of Ultrasound Signs of Native Septic Arthritis of the Knee |
| NCT05341908 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Prevalence of Pathogens in Synovial Fluid Obtained From Emergency Department Patients |
| NCT05484284 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Two-stage Arthroplasty for the Septic Arthritis of the Native Knee Joint |
| NCT05593874 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Predictive Value of Nu.Q™ Biomarkers to Help Guiding the Management of Osteoarticular Infections |
| NCT05780697 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Short Term Results of Pediatric Septic Hip Arthritis Management in Assiut University Hospitals |
| NCT05790434 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Diagnostic Criteria for Septic Arthritis |
| NCT05886166 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Clinical Utility of Exoskeleton Robot Training in Patients With Septic Arthritis After a Thermal Injury: A Case Report |
| NCT05971745 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Accuracy of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Providers in Diagnosing Hip Effusions Using Point of Care Ultrasound |
| NCT06003374 | Not specified | UNKNOWN | Extended Hip Ultrasound as Anew Protocol for Septic Hip in Children |
| NCT06241365 | Not specified | COMPLETED | The Predictive Role of C-reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio (CAR) in the Treatment of Septic Arthritis in Young Chlidren |
| NCT06489535 | Not specified | COMPLETED | Retention and Re-Engagement in Treatment for Addiction Following Serious Injection Related Infections (RETAIN) |
Drugs tested across these trials (top 30)
| Molecule | Max phase | Trials referencing |
|---|---|---|
| CEPHALEXIN ANHYDROUS | 4 | 6 |
| CEFADROXIL | 4 | 1 |
| CEFAZOLIN | 4 | 1 |
| CEFTRIAXONE | 4 | 1 |
| DALBAVANCIN | 4 | 1 |
| ORITAVANCIN | 4 | 1 |
| SULFAMETHOXAZOLE | 4 | 1 |
| TRIMETHOPRIM | 4 | 1 |
| VANCOMYCIN | 4 | 1 |
| PROCALCITONIN | 3 | 1 |
| CHEMBL4299436 | 0 | 1 |
| CHEMBL4778239 | 0 | 1 |
| CHEMBL4785392 | 0 | 1 |
| CHEMBL6174705 | 0 | 1 |
| CHEMBL1555813 | 0 | 1 |