ABSTRACT
Objective To determine plasma resistin level in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and evaluate its correlations with outcome and inflammatory reaction. Methods Fiftyfour patients with moderate TBI, 71 patients with severe TBI and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Plasma samples were obtained from the healthy controls on physical examination and from the TBI patients on admission. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) was used to determine the plasma resistin concentrations. Results Twenty patients (37.0% ) and 53 patients (74.6% ) with moderate and severe TBI suffered from an unfavorable outcome (defined as GOS score for 1-3 points) three months after TBI respectively. Plasma resistin levels in the patients with moderate and severe TBI were substantially higher than that in the healthy controls ((21. 9 ± 8. 4) ng/ml and (29. 2 ± 9. 6) ng/ml vs (9. 3 ± 2.6) ng/ml, both P ＜0. 01] by using covariance analysis. By using the multivariate linear regression analysis, plasma C-reactive protein level (t =2.212,P =0.035; t =2. 274,P =0. 014) and GCS scores (t =3. 120,P =0.007; t=3.986,P=0.003) were associated with the plasma resistin levels. Logistic regression analysis selected plasma resistin level as an independent predictor for 3-month unfavorable outcome of the patients with moderate and severe TBI (odds ratio = 1. 124, 95% CI = 1. 040-1. 221, P = 0.011; odds ratio = 1. 145, 95% CI = 1. 044-1. 232, P = 0. 009). A receiver operating characteristic curve identified cutoff levels of plasma resistin (22.4 ng/ml and 30.5 ng/ml) that predicted 3-month unfavorable outcome of moderate and severe TBI patients with the high sensitivity (70. 0% and 79. 2% ) and specificity (70.6% and 72.2% ) ( area under curve = 0.719, 95% CI = 0.642-0.829, P = 0.000;area under curve =0.735, 95% CI =0. 671-0. 893, P = 0.000). Conclusions Plasma resistin level is increased after TBI and may be involved in inflammatory response of brain injury. Clinical detection of this indicator can help early determine the prognosis of the TBI patients.