ArticleFrontiers in immunology2021
Candidate Biomarkers to Distinguish Spinal Tuberculosis From Mechanical Back Pain in a Tuberculosis Endemic Setting.
Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Host blood protein biomarkers to screen for tuberculosis disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Recommendations of the International Consensus Meeting (ICM) 2025 on Spinal Infections: Part B Tubercular Spondylodiscitis.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Could Predict Decreased Hemoglobin in Tuberculosis Treated With Linezolid-Containing Regimen.The clinical respiratory journal · 2026Article
- Wasting phenotype for differentiating spinal tuberculosis from spinal pyogenic infection.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Host- and pathogen-related determinants of pulmonaryEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Risk factors for the progression from pulmonary tuberculosis to spinal tuberculosis: a logistic regression analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- Exploring Thoracolumbar Pott's Disease in the Immunocompetent; Institutional Experience Over a Decade and Comprehensive Literature Review.Medical archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) · 2025Review
- Unlocking the Diagnostic Potential: A Systematic Review of Biomarkers in Spinal Tuberculosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Analysis of the value of potential biomarker S100-A8 protein in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of spinal tuberculosis.JOR spine · 2024Article
- Markers of Tissue Deterioration and Pain on Earth and in Space.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Pathogenesis, Diagnostic Challenges, and Risk Factors of Pott's Disease.Clinics and practice · 2023Review
- A predictive model for early clinical diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis based on conventional laboratory indices: A multicenter real-world study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a potential marker for differential diagnosis between spinal tuberculosis and pyogenic spinal infection.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Spinal tuberculosis (TB) may have a variable, non-specific presentation including back pain with- or without- constitutional symptoms. Further tools are needed to aid early diagnosis of this potentially severe form of TB and immunological biomarkers may show potential in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of host serum biomarkers to distinguish spinal TB from mechanical back pain. Methods: Patients with suspected spinal TB or suspected mechanical back pain were recruited from a tertiary hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa, and provided a blood sample for biomarker analysis. Diagnosis was subsequently confirmed using bacteriological testing, advanced imaging and/or clinical evaluation, as appropriate. The concentrations of 19 host biomarkers were evaluated in serum samples using the Luminex platform. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and General Discriminant Analysis were used to identify biomarkers with the potential to distinguish spinal TB from mechanical back pain. Results: Twenty-six patients with spinal TB and 17 with mechanical back pain were recruited. Seven out of 19 biomarkers were significantly different between groups, of which Fibrinogen, CRP, IFN-γ and NCAM were the individual markers with the highest discrimination utility (Area Under Curve ROC plot 0.88-0.99). A five-marker biosignature (CRP, NCAM, Ferritin, CXCL8 and GDF-15) correctly classified all study participants after leave-one-out cross-validation. Conclusion: This study identified host serum biomarkers with the potential to diagnose spinal TB, including a five-marker biosignature. These preliminary findings require validation in larger studies.
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