title: The serum concentrations of leptin and MCP-1 independently predict low back pain duration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low back pain (LBP) is a very frequent condition, affecting most people at some point throughout their life. This cross-sectional study was aimed to investigate a selected panel of cytokines and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with or without LBP.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population consisted of 104 patients diagnosed with LBP (52 non-persistent and 52 persistent) and 52 healthy subjects with no LBP. Blood samples were collected for assessment of adiponectin, leptin, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and C reactive protein (CRP). The duration of LBP was categorized as "no pain", "non-persistent LBP" and "persistent LBP".
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher values of CRP and lower concentrations of both leptin and MCP-1 were found in LBP patients compared to controls, whereas adiponectin did not differ among groups. MCP-1 was also lower in patients with non-persistent than in those with persistent LBP. Age, leptin (relative risk, 11.8; 95% CI, 3.9-35.8) and MCP-1 (relative risk, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.7-4.4) were independently associated with presence and duration of LBP. The combination of age, leptin and MCP-1 predicted 61% of the risk of LBP duration. The area under the curve of MCP-1 for distinguishing persistent from non-persistent LBP was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.54-0.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Then results of our study suggest that leptin and MCP-1 may be promising biomarkers for diagnosis of acute LBP and its risk to become chronic.
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9523-9054
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lippi
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dagostino
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Ruggero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buonocore
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Rosalia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aloe
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonaguri
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allegri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000097:blood*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: C111835:CCL2 protein, human; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D020738:Leptin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: MCP-1; biomarkers; leptin; low back pain; pain