Blood Serum Cytokines in Patients with Subacute Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Study to Search for Biomarkers of Injury Severity

Ogurcov, Sergei; Shulman, Iliya; Garanina, Ekaterina; Sabirov, Davran; Baichurina, Irina; Kuznetcov, Maxim; Masgutova, Galina; Kostennikov, Alexander; Rizvanov, Albert; James, Victoria; Mukhamedshina, Yana

Abstract

Background: Despite considerable interest in the search for a spinal cord injury (SCI) therapy, there is a critical need to develop a panel of diagnostic biomarkers to determine injury severity. In this regard, there is a requirement for continuing research into the fundamental processes of neuroinflammatory and autoimmune reactions in SCI, identifying changes in the expression of cytokines.

Methods: In this pilot study, an extended multiplex analysis of the cytokine profiles in the serum of patients at 2 weeks post-SCI (n = 28) was carried out, together with an additional assessment of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 16 uninjured subjects were enrolled as controls.

Results: The data obtained showed a large elevation of IFNγ (>52 fold), CCL27 (>13 fold), and CCL26 (>8 fold) 2 weeks after SCI. The levels of cytokines CXCL5, CCL11, CXCL11, IL10, TNFα, and MIF were different between patients with baseline American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grades of A or B, whilst IL2 (>2 fold) and MIP-3a (>6 fold) were significantly expressed in the cervical and thoracic regions. There was a trend towards increasing levels of NSE. However, the difference in NSE was lost when the patient set was segregated based on AIS group.

Conclusions: Our pilot research demonstrates that serum concentrations of cytokines can be used as an affordable and rapid detection tool to accurately stratify SCI severity in patients.

Citation

Ogurcov, S., Shulman, I., Garanina, E., Sabirov, D., Baichurina, I., Kuznetcov, M., Masgutova, G., Kostennikov, A., Rizvanov, A., James, V., & Mukhamedshina, Y. (2021). Blood Serum Cytokines in Patients with Subacute Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Study to Search for Biomarkers of Injury Severity. Brain Sciences, 11(3), Article 322. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030322

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 4, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 4, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 12, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 12, 2021
• Journal: Brain Sciences
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 322
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030322
• Keywords: Traumatic spinal cord injury, Cytokine profile, Inflammation, Blood serum, Clinical trial.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5376951
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/3/322