Article

There is a need to identify reliable biomarkers of spinal cord injury
recovery for clinical practice and clinical trials. Our objective was
to correlate serum albumin levels with spinal cord injury neurological outcomes.
METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of patients with traumatic spinal cord
injury (n = 591) participating in the Sygen clinical trial.
Serum albumin
concentrations were obtained as part of routine blood chemistry analysis, at
trial entry (24-72 hours), 1, 2, and 4 weeks after injury.
The primary outcomes
were "marked recovery" and lower extremity motor scores, derived from the
International Standards for the Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord
Injury. Data were analyzed with multivariable logistic and linear regression to
adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Serum albumin was significantly
associated with spinal cord injury neurological outcomes. Higher serum albumin
concentrations at 1, 2, and 4 weeks were associated with higher 52-week lower
extremity motor score. Similarly, the odds of achieving "marked neurological
recovery" was greater for individuals with higher serum albumin concentrations.
The association between serum albumin concentrations and neurological outcomes
was independent of initial injury severity, treatment with GM-1, and polytrauma.
CONCLUSIONS: In spinal cord injury, serum albumin is an independent marker of
long-term neurological outcomes. Serum albumin could serve as a feasible
biomarker for prognosis at the time of injury and stratification in clinical trials.

Langue : ANGLAIS