
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) refers to a brain injury caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and body. In patients who suffered acute orthopedic injuries, two proposed
biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) were not able to
distinguish between patients who did or did not have mTBI.
Relying on
elevated levels of the proteins GFAP and UCH-L1 to identify patients
with mTBI could lead to false-positive diagnoses and unnecessary brain
imaging, as reported in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
Jussi Posti and coauthors from Turku University Hospital and University of Turku (Finland), VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (Tampere), and University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital (U.K.), measured the levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1) in patients at several time points after acute orthopedic injuries.
"This study represents another important contribution to the field of biomarker discovery within the context of mild traumatic brain injury," says John T. Povlishock, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma.
"Although as noted by the authors, this study used platforms and assays different from previous reports in the literature, the fundamental fact remains that this study's findings emphasize the need for increased vigilance when using GFAP and UCH-L-1 as potential biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury in a patient population that has sustained concomitant orthopedic injury."
Source: Eurekalert
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