University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medicine researchers identified a potential biomarker that could help predict outcomes in patients with severe bone and joint infections.
Researchers studied humanized mice and patient bone samples and found T cells in chronic Staphylococcus aureus infections became dysfunctional and expressed high levels of immune checkpoint proteins, including TIM-3. High TIM-3 levels in patient serum were associated with poor clinical outcomes, according to a Sept. 2 news release.
Serum immune checkpoint protein levels could predict patient outcomes with 90% accuracy, according to the study, published Aug. 27 in Nature Communications Medicine. Researchers said the finding could help orthopedic surgeons determine whether patients should receive aggressive or conservative treatment for joint infections.
The findings also point to a potential treatment strategy involving immune checkpoint blockade drugs. Such drugs are used to boost T cell function in cancer, and researchers plan to study whether they could similarly reprogram exhausted T cells in chronic bone infections alongside antibiotics.
Gowrishankar Muthukrishnan, PhD, assistant professor of orthopaedics and microbiology and immunology, received a $2.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to study potential diagnostic and treatment approaches for implant-associated bone infection. His team ultimately aims to develop a serum test to guide treatment decisions and assess whether FDA-approved checkpoint blockade drugs could have a role in treating bone infections.
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