Circulating Ubiquitin Carboxyl Terminal Hydrolase L1 and Neuroglobin Levels in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: Relation to Severity and Outcomes

• Published in: International journal of general medicine Vol. 15; pp. 5795 - 5805
• Main Authors: Abuhamdah, Sawsan, Saleem, Tahia H, Elsadek, Bakheet E.M, Ashraf, Omyma, Hamdan, Ali R, El-Khateeb, Eslam El Sayed, Elwahab, Saeda M. Abd, Hassan, Mohammed H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Macclesfield Dove Medical Press Limited 30.06.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Age; diagnostic and prognostic markers; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Hydrolases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Males; Nervous system diseases; neuroglobin; Original Research; Patients; Prognosis; Spinal cord injuries; traumatic spinal cord injury; Ubiquitin; ubiquitin c-terminal hydrolase l1; Vertebrae; Egypt
• ISSN: 1178-7074; 1178-7074
• DOI: 10.2147/IJGM.S364736

Introduction: Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is a life-threatening neurological disorder and there is a lack of biomarker research, particularly human studies that could help to categorize the severity and predict the outcome. We aimed to assess the role of serum Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) and Neuroglobin (NGB) in predicting severity and outcome of TSCI. Methods: This prospective study included 63 participants categorized into 33 patients with various types of TSCI and 30 unrelated healthy volunteers. Neurosurgical [American spinal injury association (ASIA) impairment score (AIS)] and radiological [using spine computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] assessments were performed on the included patients to determine the severity and the level of injury with neurological follow-up of patients within 6 months post-injury. Serum UCH-L1 and NGB were measured for all participants using commercially available ELISA assay kits. Results: Of the included patients, 20 (60.60%) had partial SCI and the remaining 13 patients (39.39%) had complete SCI. On follow-up, 19 patients (57.57%) showed improved AIS, while 14 cases (42.42%) did not show any improvement in their AIS scores. There was significantly higher median serum UCHL1 value among cases compared to controls (1723 pg/mL and 657 pg/mL, respectively), p < 0.05. There was an insignificant rise of serum NGB levels among cases in comparison with the controls (15.2pg/mL and 7.52pg/mL, respectively, p > 0.05). Significantly lower initial median serum UCHL1 levels (pg/mL) were observed in patients with improved AIS during the neurological follow-up compared with those who did not show any improvement in their AIS score (1723, and 4700 respectively, p < 0.05), with lack of significant difference in the initial median serum NGB levels, p > 0.05. Conclusion: Initial serum UCHL1 assay could be a helpful marker in reflecting the degree of TSCI and predicting its outcome, though NGB needs further assessment. Keywords: traumatic spinal cord injury, Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1, neuroglobin, diagnostic and prognostic markers