Biomarkers for recurrent pressure injury risk in persons with spinal cord injury

Objective: To investigate potential linkages between pressure injury (PrI) recurrence following spinal cord injury (SCI) and muscle-based and circulatory biomarkers, specifically fatty metabolites and inflammatory cytokines.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: Tertiary Care Center.

Participants: 30 individuals with complete or incomplete SCI. Study participants either had never developed a PrI (Group I) or had a history of recurrent PrI (Group II).

Interventions: Not applicable.

Outcome Measures: Gluteal muscle histology, immunohistochemistry, muscle-based and circulatory fatty metabolites and inflammatory cytokines.

Results: Gluteal intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) was greater than 15% in most Group II (83%) individuals. Muscle tissue histology confirmed intramuscular structural differences. Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) and fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3) were reliably detected in muscle and blood and significantly correlated with IMAT (P? Conclusion: Identifying individuals with SCI at highest risk for recurrent PrI may impact patient management. IMAT content evaluation illustrates that muscle quality is a key biomarker. Low circulatory inflammatory biomarker expression potentially limits clinical significance for between group differences. Circulatory levels of FABP4 hold great potential as a recurrent PrI risk biomarker.