Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum Tau protein and neuron-specific enolase （NSE） levels and cognitive function in patients after craniocerebral trauma surgery. Methods A total of 110 patients with craniocerebral trauma at the Third People's Hospital of Henan Province from April 2021 to December 2023 were enrolled. The patients were classified into cognitive impairment group（45 cases）and non-cognitive impairment group（65 cases）based on the postoperative mini-mental state examination（MMSE）score. The serum Tau protein and NSE levels before surgery（craniocerebral trauma 2 h）and after surgery 24 h were determined. Pearson analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between serum Tau protein，NSE levels and postoperative MMSE score. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the influencing factors of postoperative cognitive impairment after craniocerebral trauma. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC）curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of serum Tau protein and NSE in judging postoperative cognitive impairment after craniocerebral trauma. Results The proportion of patients with cognitive impairment and hypertension and the proportion of general anesthesia in cognitive impairment group were higher than those in non-cognitive impairment group（P<0.05），and the Glasgow coma scale（GCS）score was lower in cognitive impairment group（P<0.05）. Serum Tau protein and NSE levels in cognitive impairment group before and after surgery were higher than those in non-cognitive impairment group（P<0.05）. Serum Tau protein and NSE levels in both groups after surgery were lower than those before surgery（P<0.05）. Serum Tau protein and NSE were negatively correlated with postoperative MMSE score（r values were -0.529 and -0.537，respectively，P<0.05）. Hypertension，decreased GCS score，elevated serum Tau protein and elevated NSE were risk factors for postoperative cognitive impairment in patients with craniocerebral trauma（P<0.05）. The areas under curves（AUC）of single and combined determinations of serum Tau protein and NSE in judging postoperative cognitive impairment in patients with craniocerebral trauma were 0.792，0.751 and 0.875，respectively. Conclusions Serum Tau protein and NSE levels are elevated in patients with postoperative cognitive impairment after craniocerebral trauma. Serum Tau protein and NSE have certain value in the risk assessment of postoperative cognitive impairment after craniocerebral trauma.

Key words: Tau protein, Neuron-specific enolase, Craniocerebral trauma, Cognitive function