A subgroup analysis based on ethnicity, revealed that both Asian and Caucasian osteoarthritis patients had higher levels of VEGF expression than healthy controls(Asians: SMD = 5.49, 95% CI: 3.44 ~ 7.54, P < 0.001; Caucasians: SMD = 15.17, 95% CI: 5.21 ~ 25.13, P = 0.003; respectively) (Figure 3). Here, VEGFA is linked to osteoarthritis.