{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T22:19:56Z","timestamp":1770157196433,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most prevalent chronic joint disorders, with its incidence rising over the past decade due to an increase in risk factors, including age, obesity, metabolic conditions, sedentary behavior, and mechanical stress on the knee joints. We conducted a cross-sectional, two-group comparison including 70 knee-pain patients aged \u2265 44 years: 50 patients meeting clinical and radiological criteria for TKA and 20 patients undergoing knee arthroscopy as controls. All patients underwent clinical assessments, WOMAC scoring, radiography, and 3T knee MRI. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), vitamin D3, calcium, and phosphorus were measured at admission. TKA patients were older and had higher WOMAC scores. WOMAC discriminated groups perfectly (AUC = 1.000), but age discriminated well (AUC = 0.911). IL-6 (AUC = 0.819) and COMP (AUC = 0.838) were significant discriminators, with IL-6 threshold \u2265 4.585 pg\/mL achieving 66% sensitivity and 85% specificity and COMP cutoff \u2265 11.52 ng\/mL achieving 84% sensitivity and 75% specificity. TKA group vitamin D3 levels were considerably lower but had limited discriminatory performance (AUC = 0.683). Although all patients had adequate mineral metabolism, TKA patients had lower serum calcium and higher serum phosphorus levels than controls.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16020232","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T12:00:47Z","timestamp":1770033647000},"page":"232","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Serum and Clinical Factors Associated with Total Knee Arthroplasty in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Sergiu Andrei","family":"Iordache","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adrian","family":"Cursaru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2729-6211","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogdan","family":"Serban","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0409-7220","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihnea Ioan-Gabriel","family":"Popa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1269-8579","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihai Aurel","family":"Costache","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sergiu","family":"Stanciu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7088-883X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogdan Stefan","family":"Cretu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Florin Catalin","family":"Cirstoiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Orthopedic Department, Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Primorac, D., Molnar, V., Rod, E., Jele\u010d, \u017d., \u010cukelj, F., Mati\u0161i\u0107, V., Vrdoljak, T., Hudetz, D., Hajsok, H., and Bori\u0107, I. 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