PERIPHERAL BLOOD SEROTONIN AS A MARKER OF CEREBRAL INJURIES

Aim. To study the quantitative blood serum serotonin (SS) content in patients during acute period of traumatic and inflammatory cerebral injuries. Materials and methods. 72 patients with cerebrocranial injuries and 44 patients with tick-borne encephalitis were examined. The group of control included 15 healthy persons. SS was studied with the method of immunofermental hardphase analysis using the set “Serotonin ELISA”. Results. Blood SS level in patients with concussion of the brain was 148,90±59,57 ng/ml, being similar ( p >0,05) to that in the control group (187±28,9 ng/ml). In patients with moderate brain contusion, the studied neuromediator index increased to 331,81±77,14 ng/ml and was higher ( p =0,029) than in the group of patients with cerebral concussion. A mean SS level in patients with tick-borne encephalitis irrespective of clinical form of the disease was 97,2±57,1 ng/ml being lower than in healthy persons ( p =0,003). At the same time, in case of patalytic form, SS concentration was reliably lower - 45,7±23,6 ng/ml than in nonparalytic one - 115,6±54,4 ng/ml ( p =0,015). Conclusion. The obtained results show involving of peripheral humoral component of serotonin system into pathological process of neurological diseases. In case of traumatic and infectious process the changes are of different directions. On the basis of studying blood SS concentration one can predict the severity of cerebral injury in traumatic and infectious process.