Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 16, 2023; 11(14): 3158-3166
Published online May 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i14.3158
Changes and significance of serum ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 and glial fibrillary acidic protein in patients with glioma
Qing-Hua Zhu, Jing-Kun Wu, Gao-Lei Hou
Qing-Hua Zhu, Jing-Kun Wu, Gao-Lei Hou, Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Engineering University, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Zhu QH and Wu JK designed the study, and implemented and collected the data; Zhu QH analyzed the data, wrote and edited the manuscript; and Hou GL supervised and supported the research.
Supported by Hebei Medical Science Research Project, No. 20220648.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Engineering University.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jing-Kun Wu, MM, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Engineering University, No. 81 Congtai Street, Congtai District, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China. wujingkunwjk@163.com
Received: February 19, 2023
Peer-review started: February 19, 2023
First decision: February 28, 2023
Revised: March 17, 2023
Accepted: April 6, 2023
Article in press: April 6, 2023
Published online: May 16, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Glioma is a very common intracranial malignant tumor with a high degree of malignancy, rapid growth, and high postoperative recurrence rate, which could cause severe damage to the nervous system. Early prediction of postoperative prognosis in patients with glioma is of great clinical significance.

Research motivation

Ubiquitin carboxyl terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) reflect damage and lesions in the nervous system. Changes in serum UCH-L1 and GFAP levels in patients with glioma before and after surgery, and the relationship between them, have not been clarified.

Research objectives

This study aimed to assess the changes and correlation between pre-and postoperative serum UCH-L1 and GFAP levels in patients with glioma and predict the postoperative prognosis of patients with glioma after surgery.

Research methods

Total 91 patients with glioma were included in the experimental group and 60 healthy volunteers were selected as the control group. In the experimental group, 5 mL of peripheral venous blood was collected before and 3 d after surgery to detect UCH-L1 and GFAP levels in the peripheral blood serum. In the control group, venous blood was collected on an empty stomach morning on the second day after enrollment to monitor the levels of UCH-L1 and GFAP in the peripheral blood serum. At the same time, the postoperative recurrence of glioma was recorded to determine the value of serum UCH-L1 and GFAP for predicting glioma prognosis.

Research results

UCH-L1 and GFAP levels 3 d after surgery in the patients with gliomas were significantly lower than those before surgery. Moreover, the UCH-L1 and GFAP levels in the glioma group were significantly higher than those in the control group before and after surgery. The levels of serum UCH-L1 and GFAP in 22 patients with glioma recurrence were higher compared with the non-recurrence group before and 3 d after surgery, and the difference was statistically significant.

Research conclusions

Although serum UCH-L1 and GFAP levels in the patients with glioma were abnormally increased, these levels decreased after surgery. Serum UCH-L1 and GFAP levels may be potential indicators for predicting the postoperative recurrence and prognosis of glioma.

Research perspectives

Future work and clinical research should be conducted to verify the accuracy of the experimental results through a more rigorous experimental design, expanded sample size, and multicenter studies and to provide favorable evidence for predicting the recurrence and prognosis of glioma.