Table 2 Serum biomarkers of inflammation, redox status and cartilage degradation.

From: Serum biomarkers in people with chronic low back pain and Modic 1 changes: a case-control study

Biomarkers, mean (95% CI)

Control (Modic 0) n = 21

Cases (Modic 1) n = 13

All patients n = 34

p-value

Inflammation

   IL-1β (pg/ml)*

0.2 (0.1; 0.3)

0.2 (0.1; 0.3)

0.2 (0.1; 0.3)

0.466

   IL-6 (pg/ml)*

0.9 (0.5; 1.2)

0.8 (0.5; 1.1)

0.8 (0.6; 1.0)

0.906

   IL-8 (pg/ml)*

53.8 (−1.8; 109.3)

23.3 (0.0; 46.6)

41.8 (8.0; 75.6)

0.796

   TNF-α (pg/ml)*

3.2 (2.4; 3.9)

2.8 (2.3; 3.2)

3.0 (2.6; 3.5)

0.869

Redox status

   Total thiols (µM)**£

333.7 (309.1; 358.3)

318.8 (271.4; 366.2)

327.8 (305.4; 350.3)

0.554

   Advanced oxidation protein products (µM)*$

17.5 (5.0; 30.0)

12.8 (6.4; 19.2)

15.5 (8.1; 23.0)

0.246

   Carbonyl groups (nmol/mg of proteins)*#

1.0 (0.5; 1.5)

1.2 (0.8; 1.7)

1.1 (0.8; 1.4)

0.246

Cartilage degradation

   Col2-1 (nM)**§

269.8 (239.2; 300.4)

241.6 (214.4; 268.8)

258.5 (237.7; 279.4)

0.150

   Coll2-1NO2 (pg/ml)*°

790.9 (549.8; 1032.0)

830.2 (577.6; 1082.8)

805.8 (638.4; 973.2)

0.472

  1. IL: interleukin; TNF: Tumor Necrosis Factor.
  2. *Comparisons between Modic 0 and Modic 1 groups using the Mann-Whitney test.
  3. **Comparisons between Modic 0 and Modic 1 groups using the Student t-test.
  4. The sample size varied depending on the parameter analysed. All these variations were due to low sample amount.
  5. £n = 33 patients (20 controls and 13 cases).
  6. $n = 30 patients (18 controls and 12 cases).
  7. #n = 32 patients (19 controls and 13 cases).
  8. §n = 31 patients (18 controls and 13 cases).
  9. °n = 29 patients (18 controls and 11 cases).
  10. Numbers in the brackets are 95% CI, unless otherwise indicated.
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