Abstract:
Background: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a brain-specific astroglial protein that is released into the blood soon after traumatic brain injury by mature astrocytes. S100B is rapidly released into the cerebrospinal fluid and bloodstream after brain damage. We compared the serum concentrations of these proteins in patients with severe head trauma (bleeding and/or fracture) or nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: The study included 63 patients (33 males and 30 females) with traumatic cerebral hemorrhage and/or cranial bone fractures or nontraumatic cerebral hemorrhage and 30 healthy control subjects. The reasons for attending the emergency department were as follows: fall from a height (n = 32), traffic accident (n = 18), nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (n = 6), animal kick to the head (n = 4), and blow to the head (n = 3). Results: Of the 63 patients included in the study, 33 (52.4%) were male and 30 (47.6%) were female. Of the 30 healthy controls, 12 (40%) were male and 18 (60%) were female. The average age of the patients was 27 years (range, 1 month to 86 years) and the average age of the control group was 21 years (range, 18u30 years). The mean serum GFAP concentrations were 86.37 ng/mL in the patients and 38.07 ng/mL in the controls (P < 0.05). The mean serum S100B concentrations were 428.37 pg/mL in the patients and 103.44 pg/mL in the controls (P < 0.05). Eight (12.7%) patients died in the hospital; of those, the mean GCS score was 4.6, and the mean GFAP and S100B levels were 127.8 ng/mL and 860.6 pg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: The GFAP and S100B concentrations were significantly higher in patients with traumatic or nontraumatic brain injury than in healthy individuals, indicating that serum levels of these biomarkers may provide an alternative to computed tomography for the diagnosis of brain injury.
