Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40160344›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2025

Utility of Cytokine Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Pediatric Pyogenic Musculoskeletal Infections.

Alexandra T Geanacopoulos, Pui Y Lee, Todd W Lyons, Kailey E Brodeur, Rachael K Aresco, Michael Monuteaux, Ron L Kaplan, Andrea T Cruz, Peter A Nigrovic, Lise E Nigrovic

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. CytokineProfile: An Integrated Web Tool for Cytokine Profiling Analysis.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Alexandra T GeanacopoulosDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8928-5588
Pui Y LeeDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Todd W LyonsDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Kailey E BrodeurDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Rachael K ArescoDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Michael MonuteauxDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ron L KaplanDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Andrea T CruzDepartment of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Peter A NigrovicDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Lise E NigrovicDivision of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6369-3997

Funding

Joint Biology Consortium Resource-based CenterP30AR070253 · NIAMS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI Peter A Nigrovic, Jeffrey Andrew Sparks · 2016 to 2026
$9.4M
AHRQ HHS T32 HS000063NIAMS NIH HHS P30 AR070253
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pyogenic musculoskeletal infections, such as septic arthritis and osteomyelitis, require prompt recognition and treatment but can be challenging to distinguish from Lyme or inflammatory arthritis. Our goal was to identify cytokine biomarkers of musculoskeletal infections. Methods: Using 2 multicenter prospective cohorts of children undergoing emergency department evaluation for musculoskeletal infection, we selected children ≤21 years of age with a musculoskeletal infection (cases) matched by age and sex to children with Lyme and inflammatory arthritis (controls). We performed a 45-cytokine/chemokine panel using the Olink proximity extension assay platform and used receiver operator curve analysis to evaluate the discriminative ability of each cytokine. Using forward stepwise logistic regression, we derived a 3-cytokine panel and compared the accuracy with 5 commonly available plasma biomarkers. Results: We included 47 children with musculoskeletal infection, 48 with Lyme arthritis, and 49 with inflammatory arthritis. Interleukin-6 had the highest accuracy for musculoskeletal infection (area under the curve [AUC], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.91). A 3-cytokine biosignature panel (interleukin-6, interleukin-17A, and colony stimulating factor-1) had the highest overall accuracy (AUC, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.84-0.96) and performed better than 5 common plasma biomarkers (white blood cell count, absolute neutrophil count, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and procalcitonin; Conclusions: Plasma cytokines can distinguish musculoskeletal infections from Lyme or inflammatory arthritis and may assist initial decision-making for children undergoing evaluation for musculoskeletal infection.

Indexed as

cytokinesdiagnostic biomarkersLyme arthritispediatric musculoskeletal infectionprediction modeling

Identifiers

PMID40160344
PMCPMC11953020

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.