Serum adipokines/related inflammatory factors and ratios as predictors of infrapatellar fat pad volume in osteoarthritis: Applying comprehensive machine learning approaches

Objective. The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) has been associated with knee osteoarthritis onset and progression. This study uses machine learning (ML) approaches to predict serum levels of some adipokines/related inflammatory factors and their ratios on knee IPFP volume of osteoarthritis patients.Methods. Serum and MRI were from the OAI at baseline. Variables comprised the 3 main osteoarthritis risk factors (age, gender, BMI), 6 adipokines, 3 inflammatory factors, and their 36 ratios. IPFP volume was assessed on MRI with a ML methodology. The best variables and models were identified in Total-cohort (n = 678), High-BMI (n = 341) and Low-BMI (n = 337), using a selection approach based on ML methods. Results. The best model for each group included three risk factors and adipsin/C-reactive protein combined for Total-cohort, adipsin/chemerin; High-BMI, chemerin/adiponectin HMW; and Low-BMI, interleukin-8. Gender separation improved the prediction (13–16%) compared to the BMI-based models. Reproducibility with osteoarthritis patients from a clinical trial was excellent (R: female 0.83, male 0.95). Pseudocodes based on gender were generated.Conclusion. This study demonstrates for the first time that the combination of the serum levels of adipokines/inflammatory factors and the three main risk factors of osteoarthritis could predict IPFP volume with high reproducibility, with the superior performance of the model accounting for gender separation.