Investigation of the diagnostic value of pancreatic stone protein (PSP) in patients presenting to the emergency department with head trauma

Aim: The aim of the study is to prospectively evaluate pancreatic stone protein (PSP) levels in patients presenting with head trauma to the Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine Emergency Clinic and to investigate the relationship between PSP and trauma. Methods: The study included 72 patients diagnosed with head trauma and a control group consisting of 84 healthy volunteers over the age of 18. Using excess serum from blood samples taken for routine tests from both the patient and control groups, PSP levels were examined by the ELISA method, and statistical comparisons between the groups were performed. Results: No significant difference was shown in PSP levels between the trauma and control groups (p = 0.304). In general, our results showed that PSP values in trauma patients are not a trauma biomarker and are not a marker directly affected by trauma. However, in our study, PSP levels were found to be significantly higher in patients with facial bone fractures (p = 0.029). Conclusion: The findings of our study indicate that PSP levels are not a reliable diagnostic biomarker in the presence of head trauma. Consistent with the literature, it is thought that this protein is associated with complications such as infection and sepsis that may develop after trauma, rather than sterile inflammation caused by the trauma itself. However, the finding in our study that PSP levels were significantly high in patients with facial bone fractures has presented a new research topic for investigating the pathophysiological relationship of this protein with specific types of tissue damage. Keywords: Pancreatik stone protein, PSP, REG1A, trauma, head trauma.