Case–control study evaluates serum taurine as a diagnostic biomarker in spinal cord injury, indicating its clinical potential.
Key Points
This study aims to assess serum taurine levels in acute spinal cord injury (SCI) and evaluate their diagnostic and prognostic significance.
200 acute traumatic SCI patients (100 paraplegia, 100 paraparesis) and 200 healthy controls enrolled in a case–control study.
Serum taurine measured at baseline and after 6 months using ELISA.
Data analysis included t-tests, ANOVA, ROC curves, and multivariable linear regression.
SCI patients had significantly lower serum taurine levels than controls at baseline (180.17 ng/mL vs 843.72 ng/mL, p < 0.0001) and after 6 months (370.61 ng/mL, p < 0.0001).
ROC analysis showed high diagnostic accuracy at baseline (sensitivity 84.2%, specificity 81.5%) and 6 months (sensitivity 75.0%, specificity 94.5%).
Injury severity, gender, age, and thoracolumbar level were significant predictors of taurine levels at 6 months (R 2 = 0.301, p < 0.001).