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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.

Sec. Neurological Biomarkers

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1601987

This article is part of the Research TopicImaging Advances in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Implications for Therapeutic ApproachesView all 9 articles

Study on the predictive role of bile acid and lymphocyte count in the prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury:a retrospective analysis

Provisionally accepted
Jie  XuJie Xu1Yinghua  SongYinghua Song1Xiancheng  ChenXiancheng Chen2Ming  ChenMing Chen2Yun  ZhaoYun Zhao1Zhi  LiZhi Li1Songyang  LiSongyang Li1Liang  ZhangLiang Zhang1Wenkui  YuWenkui Yu2*
  • 1First People's Hospital of Xuzhou, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objectives:In patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), primary traumatic brain injury is often accompanied by gastrointestinal immune dysfunction.Bile acids are common metabolites of the gut microbiota in clinical practice, and lymphocyte count is one of the indicators reflecting the clinical immune function of patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis to investigate the value of factors such as bile acids and lymphocyte counts in predicting 30 day mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury. Methods: This study included 165 patients with TBI and 131 healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period as the control. The results revealed that compared to the control group, patients with TBI had significantly lower levels of bile acids and lymphocyte counts. Regression analysis reported a correlation between GCS score, bile acid level, lymphocyte count, and 30-day mortality rate in TBI patients. Patients with lower GCS, lower bile acids, and lower lymphocyte counts after TBI have a significantly higher mortality rate during hospitalization. Results: Compared with healthy individuals undergoing physical examination, the serum bile acid levels of TBI patients were significantly reduced (7.20 ± 2.83 vs 3.45 ± 1.97 µ mol/L, p<0.001). Compared with healthy individuals undergoing physical examination, the lymphocyte count of TBI patients (4.61 ± 1.72 vs 1.49 ± 0.88 × 109/L, p<0.001) was significantly reduced. Multiple logistic regression analysis of risk factors for 30 day mortality in TBI patients revealed a correlation between bile acids and mortality (OR 0.748 [0.566-0.988]; P=0.041), as well as a positive correlation between lymphopenia and 30 day mortality (OR 0.494 [0.300-0.815]; P=0.006).For TBI patients, bile acid levels, lymphocyte counts, and GCS scores are equally sensitive and specific for predicting 30 day mortality. AUC,Area under the curve. GCS (AUC=0.7008,P=0.0004)、BA(AUC=0.7274,P<0.0001)、LYC(AUC=0.6678,P=0.0029). Conclusions: This study provides preliminary clinical evidence for the correlation between bile acid levels, immune function, and mortality in TBI patients. Further research is needed to verify the mechanism of their correlation and provide a theoretical basis for intervening in secondary brain injury after TBI and reducing clinical mortality.

Keywords: Bile acid, Lymphocyte Count, Traumatic Brain Injury, GCS, Retrospective study

Received: 28 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Song, Chen, Chen, Zhao, Li, Li, Zhang and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Wenkui Yu, wenky75@163.com

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