Table 1.
Summary of spinal cord injury serum/CSF biomarkers
| Biomarker | Pathophysiological process/origin | Main findings and diagnostic/prognostic utility | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| GFAP | Glial cell injury | Discrimination between AIS sub-groups by concentrations during early phase after SCI. Lower levels associated with better neurological recovery | Dalkilic et al, 2018 [10•], Kwon et al, 2017 [67], Ahadi et al, 2015 [68], Yang et al, 2018 [69] |
| S-100β | Glial cell injury | Discrimination between AIS sub-groups by concentrations during early phase after SCI. Lower levels associated with better neurological recovery | Dalkilic et al, 2018 [10•], Kwon et al, 2017 [67], Du et al, 2018 [70], Yang et al, 2018 [69] |
| NF-L, NF-H | Axonal injury | Higher levels in SCI patients compared to controls during acute phase. NF-L was correlated with long-term outcome, while NF-H showed no significant associations | Ahadi et al, 2015 [68], Yang et al, 2018 [69], Kuhle et al, 2015 [71], Casha et al, 2018 [72] |
| Tau | Neuronal injury | Elevated levels during acute phase after SCI and discrimination between AIS sub-groups. Levels correlated with long-term functional outcome | Dalkilic et al, 2018 [10•], Kwon et al, 2017 [67], Tang et al, 2019 [73], Caprelli et al, 2018 [74] |
| NSE | Neuronal cell body injury | Elevated levels in SCI patients without differences between AIS sub-groups. Inconsistent findings regarding predictive utility | Ahadi et al, 2015 [68], Du et al, 2018 [70], Li et al, 2014 [75], de Mello Rieder et al, 2019 [76] |
| IL-6, IL-8 | Inflammation | Increased levels during acute and subacute phase. Predictive of AIS conversion in patients | Dalkilic et al, 2018 [10•], Kwon et al, 2017 [67], Yang et al, 2018 [69], de Mello Rieder et al, 2019 [76] |
| MCP-1 | Inflammation | Elevated early after SCI. Results about prognostic utility are inconsistent | Dalkilic et al, 2018 [10•], Kwon et al, 2017 [67], Casha et al, 2018 [72], Heller et al, 2017 [77] |
| Albumin | Hepatic synthesis | Hypoalbuminemia after SCI was associated with poor long-term neurological outcome | Tong et al, 2018 [78], Vo et al, 2020 [79] |
| microRNAs | Various | Severity-dependent distinct changes in the expression profile after SCI with up- and downregulation of certain microRNAs | Sun et al, 2018 [80], Ding et al, 2020 [81], Park et al, 2019 [82], Li et al, 2019 [83], Tigchelaar et al, 2019 [84] |
Overview of serum/CSF biomarkers with their pathophysiological origin and a short summary of their diagnostic/prognostic utility after SCI