ArticleRMD open2021
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor: a potential biomarker for chronic low back pain in patients with Modic changes.
Article in RMD open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cytokine Patterns as Predictors of Antibiotic Treatment Effect in Chronic Low Back Pain with Modic Changes: Subgroup Analyses of a Randomized Trial (AIM Study).Journal of pain research · 2023Trial
- Anti-CD74 IgA is not associated with modic changes in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Immune-neural crosstalk in chronic low back pain: from intervertebral disc degeneration to pain sensitization.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Targeting Inflammatory Pathways in Chronic Low Back Pain: Opportunities for Novel Therapeutics.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Role of macrophage in intervertebral disc degeneration.Bone research · 2025Review
- Proteomic analysis of serum in a population-based cohort did not reveal a biomarker for Modic changes.JOR spine · 2024Article
- Pain and the biochemistry of fibromyalgia: patterns of peripheral cytokines and chemokines contribute to the differentiation between fibromyalgia and controls and are associated with pain, fat infiltration and content.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Biomarkers for intervertebral disc and associated back pain: From diagnosis to disease prognosis and personalized treatment.JOR spine · 2023Review
- Modic changes as seen on MRI are associated with nonspecific chronic lower back pain and disability.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, but the aetiology remains poorly understood. Finding relevant biomarkers may lead to better understanding of disease mechanisms. Patients with vertebral endplate bone marrow lesions visualised on MRI as Modic changes (MCs) have been proposed as a distinct LBP phenotype, and inflammatory mediators may be involved in the development of MCs.
objectivesTo identify possible serum biomarkers for LBP in patients with MCs.
methodsIn this case control study serum levels of 40 cytokines were compared between patients with LBP and MC type 1 (n=46) or type 2 (n=37) and healthy controls (n=50).
resultsAnalyses identified significantly higher levels of six out of 40 cytokines in the MC type 1 group (MC1), and five in the MC type 2 group (MC2) compared with healthy controls. Six cytokines were moderately correlated with pain. Principal component analyses revealed clustering and separation of patients with LBP and controls, capturing 40.8% of the total variance, with 10 cytokines contributing to the separation. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) alone accounted for 92% of the total contribution. Further, receiver operating characteristics analysis revealed that MIF showed an acceptable ability to distinguish between patients and controls (area under the curve=0.79).
conclusionsThese results suggest that cytokines may play a role in LBP with MCs. The clinical significance of the findings is unknown. MIF strongly contributed to clustering of patients with LBP with MCs and controls, and might be a biomarker for MCs. Ultimately, these results may guide future research on novel treatments for this patient group.
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