Bone Biomechanics Engineering Laboratory of Shandong Province, Neck-Shoulder and Lumbocrural Pain Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250062, China.
Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
Dis Markers. 2021 Nov 11;2021:4549049. doi: 10.1155/2021/4549049. eCollection 2021.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) has high incidence globally and is frequently accompanied by subsequent cognitive decline. Accurate early risk-categorization of SCI patients for cognitive decline using biomarkers can enable the timely application of appropriate neuroprotective measures and the development of new agents for the management of SCI-associated cognitive decline. Neuropeptide FF is an endogenous neuropeptide with a multitude of functions and is associated with neuroinflammatory processes. This prospective study investigated the predictive value of serum neuropeptide FF levels measured after acute SCI for subsequent cognitive decline.
88 patients presenting with acute SCI without preexisting neurological injury, brain trauma, or severe systemic illness and 60 healthy controls were recruited. Serum neuropeptide FF levels, clinical, and routine laboratory variables including low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, fasting blood glucose, total triiodothyronine (TT3), total thyroxine (TT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels collected from all subjects were assessed. Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) was performed 3 months after enrollment. SCI patients were grouped according to quartile of serum neuropeptide FF level and MoCA scores were compared using ANOVA. Additionally, multivariate linear regression with clinical and laboratory variables was performed to predict MoCA scores.
SCI patients displayed significantly higher baseline serum neuropeptide FF levels than healthy controls (38.5 ± 4.1 versus 23.4 ± 2.0 pg/ml, < 0.001). SCI patients in higher quartiles of baseline serum neuropeptide FF displayed significantly lower MoCA scores at 3 months. Linear regression analysis indicated serum neuropeptide FF levels as a significant independent predictor of worse MoCA scores after SCI ( = 0.331, = 0.034).
Early serum neuropeptide FF levels significantly and independently predicted cognitive decline after acute SCI among patients without preexisting neurological disorders.
脊髓损伤（SCI）在全球发病率较高，常伴有随后的认知能力下降。使用生物标志物对 SCI 患者进行认知能力下降的早期风险分类，可以及时采取适当的神经保护措施，并开发新的药物来治疗与 SCI 相关的认知能力下降。神经肽 FF 是一种具有多种功能的内源性神经肽，与神经炎症过程有关。本前瞻性研究调查了急性 SCI 后测量的血清神经肽 FF 水平对随后认知能力下降的预测价值。
招募了 88 名无既往神经损伤、脑外伤或严重系统性疾病的急性 SCI 患者和 60 名健康对照者。评估了所有受试者的血清神经肽 FF 水平、临床和常规实验室变量，包括低密度脂蛋白、高密度脂蛋白、空腹血糖、总三碘甲状腺原氨酸（TT3）、总甲状腺素（TT4）和促甲状腺激素（TSH）水平。在入组后 3 个月进行蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）。根据血清神经肽 FF 水平和 MoCA 评分的四分位将 SCI 患者进行分组，并使用 ANOVA 进行比较。此外，还进行了包含临床和实验室变量的多元线性回归，以预测 MoCA 评分。
与健康对照组相比，SCI 患者的基线血清神经肽 FF 水平明显更高（38.5±4.1 比 23.4±2.0 pg/ml，<0.001）。基线血清神经肽 FF 水平较高的 SCI 患者在 3 个月时的 MoCA 评分明显较低。线性回归分析表明，血清神经肽 FF 水平是 SCI 后 MoCA 评分较差的显著独立预测因子（β=0.331，P=0.034）。
在无既往神经疾病的 SCI 患者中，早期血清神经肽 FF 水平显著且独立地预测了急性 SCI 后认知能力下降。
