Background: Translocator protein (TSPO) is a biomarker of neuroinflammation and brain injury. This study aimed to ascertain the potential of serum TSPO as a predictor of cognitive impairment after acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
Methods: In this prospective observational cohort study, 276 patients with supratentorial ICH were randomly assigned to two groups (184 patients in the study group and 92 in the validation group) in a 2:1 ratio. Serum TSPO levels were gauged at admission, and cognitive status was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) post-stroke 3 months. A MoCA score of < 26 was considered indicative of cognitive impairment.
Results: Serum TSPO levels were inversely correlated with MoCA scores (ρ=− 0.592; P< 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that serum TSPO levels were independently associated with MoCA scores (β, − 0.934; 95% confidence interval (CI), − 1.412--0.455; VIF, 1.473; P< 0.001). Serum TSPO levels were substantially higher in patients with cognitive impairment than in the remaining patients (median, 2.7 versus 1.6 ng/mL; P< 0.001). Serum TSPO levels were linearly correlated with the risk of cognitive impairment under a restricted cubic spline (P=0.325) and independently predicted cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 1.589; 95% CI, 1.139– 2.216; P=0.016). Subgroup analysis showed that the relationship between serum TSPO levels and cognitive impairment was not markedly influenced by other parameters, such as age, sex, drinking, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, and dyslipidemia (all P for interaction > 0.05). The model, which contained serum TSPO, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores and hematoma volume, performed well under the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve and decision curve, and using the Hosmer–Lemeshow test. This model was validated in the validation group.
Conclusion: Serum TSPO level upon admission after ICH was independently associated with cognitive impairment, substantializing serum TSPO as a reliable predictor of post-ICH cognitive impairment.
Keywords: translocator protein, intracerebral hemorrhage, cognitive impairment, biomarkers