Thanks to all the authors for the great work and the collaboration, but especially to @claudiasiverino.bsky.social for her hard work, commitment, and being the perfect mix of brilliance and good vibes!
We are grateful to #AOTrauma for funding and we are excited to moving this research forward! 🔚

(6/7) This study suggests that miRNA hold significant potential for improving the diagnosis of MSKI, and should be further validated in larger patient cohorts.
The ultimate goal is to develop a miRNA-based diagnostic panel that is sensitive, specific, and cost-effective. 🔽

(5/7) The results are exciting and so are the open questions that we should address with future research. Can we extend this approach to a broader range of pathogens? Will we be able to detect low grade infections? What's the functional role of these miRNA? 🔽

(4/7) In vitro, human PBMCs were exposed to the supernatant of S. aureus or S. epidermidis, resulting in miRNA expression patterns that closely mirrored those observed in the serum of patients. 🔽

(3/7) Though single markers performed well in terms of sensitivity and specificity, the combination of all four miRNA yielded the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an AUC of 0.958 when comparing S. aureus to S. epidermidis. 🔽

(2/7) The upregulation of miR-1246 and miR-1290, and the downregulation of miR-148b-3p and miR-23a-3p in the serum of MSKI patients were significantly associated with S. aureus infections in our patient cohort. 🔽