*2.8. Statistical Analysis*

Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8 (GraphPad, Palo Alto, USA). Quantitative variables are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM) or expressed as boxplots using the Tukey representation. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student's t-test, Mann–Whitney test, and One-Way ANOVA with Dunnett post hoc test, as appropriate. Categorical values were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The diagnostic accuracy and performance of the mentioned miRNAs and serological scores were determined using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated based on the highest Youden's index values [19]. Correlation studies were executed using the Spearman's correlation test. Logistic regression analyses were performed using MedCalc version 18 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). The sufficiency of the sample size was confirmed by MedCalc version 18 using in house preliminary results and a type I error rate (α) of 5% and a power (1-β) of 80%. Results were considered statistically significant when *p* < 0.05.
