Evaluation of UCH-L1 and T-Tau as prognostic biomarkers of traumatic brain injury

Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the ability of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) and total Tau (T-Tau) to predict the need for neurosurgical intervention and neurological outcome in patients with acute mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Material and Methods: Eighty-five patients diagnosed with acute mild to moderate TBI were included in this study. Serum levels of UCH-L1 and T-Tau were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Outcome measures were the need for surgical intervention and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), which was evaluated 3 months after the initial trauma. The outcomes were dichotomized into good outcomes (GOS=5) and poor outcomes (GOS<5). Results: Serum levels of both UCH-L1 and T-Tau were significantly elevated in TBI patients who required neurosurgical intervention and those who had a poor outcome. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that UCH-L1 could predict the need for neurosurgical intervention and poor outcome with an accuracy of 82.4% (AUC= 0.872) and 83.5% (AUC= 0.878), respectively. Regarding T-Tau, it could predict the need for surgical intervention and poor outcome with an accuracy of 89.4% (AUC= 0.909) and 90.6% (AUC= 0.916), respectively. Discussion: Both UCH-L1 and T-Tau can be used for outcome prediction in cases of mild to moderate TBI. However, t-tau could be a better prognostic biomarker of TBI as it was more accurate than UCH-L1.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the predictive ability of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) and total Tau (T-Tau) in determining the need for neurosurgical intervention and neurological outcome in patients with acute mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). The results showed that both UCH-L1 and T-Tau levels were significantly higher in TBI patients who required neurosurgical intervention and had a poor outcome. However, T-Tau was found to be a more accurate prognostic biomarker for TBI.