Brain Inj. 2016;30(2):179-83. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2015.1090015. Epub 2015 Dec 9.

Evaluation of peripheral blood CD34+ cell count in the acute phase of traumatic brain injury and chest trauma.

Elbuken G¹, Tanriverdi F¹, Karaca Z¹, Eser B², Hasdiraz L³, Unluhizarci K¹, Gokoglu A⁴, Cetin A⁵, Selcuklu A⁴, Kelestimur F¹.

Abstract

AIM:

To determine the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chest trauma (CT) on the number of peripheral blood (PB) stem cells in affected patients in comparison to normal controls. Additionally, the aim was to determine the relationship between CD34+ cell counts and TBI-induced hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction in the acute phase of trauma.

PATIENTS AND METHOD:

Thirty patients with TBI, 12 patients with CT and 53 healthy subjects were included in the study.

RESULTS:

CD34+ cell counts within the first 24-48 hours of TBI were found to be lower than those obtained on the 7(th) day of TBI and those in the healthy controls. CD34+ cell counts obtained on the 2(nd) day of CT were lower than those in the healthy group, but did not differ from those measured on the 7(th) day of CT. There was no correlation between CD34+ cell counts and serum total cortisol (STC) levels on the 2(nd) and 7(th) days in the TBI or CT groups.

CONCLUSION:

An increase in CD34+ cell counts as observed on the 7(th) day in both TBI and CT groups suggested that CD34 changes were not specific to TBI. Moreover, this study showed for the first time that CD34 response was not affected by changes in cortisol levels induced by TBI and severity of TBI.