title: Circulating exosome levels in the diagnosis of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Circulating exosomes represent novel biomarkers for multiple diseases. In this study, we investigated whether circulating exosome levels could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the serum exosome level of 85 patients with steroid-induced ONFH and 115 healthy donors by Nanosight detection. We then assessed the diagnostic accuracy of serum exosomes by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The circulating exosome level of the ONFH group was significantly lower than that of control group. The area under the curve was 0.72, suggesting that the level of serum exosomes has moderate diagnostic accuracy for steroid-induced ONFH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Circulating exosome levels are valuable in the diagnosis of steroid-induced ONFH.Cite this article: H-Y. Zhu, Y-C. Gao, Y. Wang, C-Q. Zhang. Circulating exosome levels in the diagnosis of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Bone Joint Res 2016;5:276-279. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.56.BJR-2015-0014.R1.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: H-Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, China zhangcq@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: C-Q
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Exosome; Osteonecrosis; Steroid