Systemic Inflammatory Response in Brain Injury

Abstract

Objective: to study the specific features of a systemic inflammatory response in critical ill patients with brain injury.

Subjects and methods. A hundred and nine patients were examined. Of them, there were 60 apparently healthy donors who formed a control group (whose obtained values were taken as normal) and 49 patients with isolated severe brain injury in the acute period. The magnitude of a systemic inflammatory response was evaluated from the blood levels of acute-phase response agents, such as C-reactive protein, haptoglobin, a^-antitrypsin, ceruloplasmin, transferrin, proteins of complement C3, C4, albumin.

Results. Analysis of the findings revealed that the systemic inflammatory response developed in severe brain injury, but it had its own features. Thus, there was a less increase in the level of C-reactive protein and a decrease in the blood concentrations of the positive acute-phase response agent haptoglobin. The change in the content of the other study acute-phase proteins was the same as described for a classical systemic inflammatory response in septic states and during surgical intervention.

Conclusion. The revealed changes in the levels of C-reactive protein and haptoglobin support the view of limitation of a brain lesion focus by the functioning blood-brain barrier, by determining the course of a systemic inflammatory response in patients with severe brain injury.