Serum Levels of Neurofilament-H are Elevated in Patients Suffering From Severe Burns.
In previous studies, after injury, burn patients experienced an increase in neuro-inflammation, edema, and neuronal cell death. As demonstrated in other brain injury models, fluid-based biomarkers such as phosphorylated neurofilament-H (pNFL-H) have been shown to correlate with injury severity. In this study the authors hypothesized that burn-injured patients have an increase in pNFL-H in the blood during the acute and chronic time-points after injury. In this prospective clinical study, blood (8 cc) was collected from burn patients (n = 36; TBSA 10-60%) at Parkland hospital, Dallas, Texas, on days 1, 7, and 14 after injury. The serum levels of pNFL-H were measured using the enzyme-linked immunoassay. Compared to noninjured controls, the burn patients exhibited a significant increase in the serum levels of pNFL-H on days 7 (P < .0001) and 14 (P < .0001) after burn injury. No significant increase was observed on day 1 (P < .07) after injury. A positive correlation between TBSA and pNFL-H levels was observed for day 14 (r = .55; P < .03). Additionally, using the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the authors determined the area under the curve was 98% for both day 7 and 14. In conclusion, this study describes the serum profile of pNFL-H in patients suffering from severe burns during the acute (day 1) and chronic (days 7 and 14) time-points. These results suggest that detection of pNFL-H may be useful in determining which individuals suffer from nerve cell degeneration after burn.
From the Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Joshua W
JW
Gatson
Ming-Mei
MM
Liu
Fernando A
FA
Rivera-Chavez
Joseph P
JP
Minei
Steven E
SE
Wolf
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019540:Area Under Curve; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002056:Burns / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D017741:Survivors; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D015415:Biomarkers; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; C051774:neurofilament protein H