Giordano R, et al. - Patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) were examined for serum levels of 92 markers involved in inflammatory pathways and for the possible associations of these levels with the clinical pain intensity. Researchers collected serum samples from 127 KOA patients and 39 healthy participants with no knee pain and analyzed them using the Proximity Extension Array technology for 92 inflammatory markers. KOA patients significantly differed from healthy participants regarding 15 markers. Pain intensity was observed to be positively correlated with two markers, fibroblast growth factor-21 and Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. Furthermore, a linear regression model revealed the following as independent parameters for pain intensity: interleukin-6, macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1, fibroblast growth factor-21, and tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 12. This work thereby present new insights into the understanding of the underlying factors driving the pain in OA.