Identification and characterization of new antibody biomarkers after spinal cord injury

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Veerle Somers, Researcher: Ilse Palmers

Spinal cord injury due to trauma or pathology can result in a temporary or permanent sensory, motor and/or autonomic dysfunctions. Therefore, spinal cord injury has a big impact on the patients daily life. The prognosis after spinal cord injury is made based on early clinical trials, the age of the patient and additional physiological tests, but the predictive character of these factors is limited and currently no reliable prognostic biomarkers are available.

In this study, we will be looking for reliable candidate biomarkers, that may provide more information about the prognosis and theranosis of patients with spinal cord injury. To this end, plasma samples will be collected from both traumatic and pathological spinal cord injury patients. Moreover, traumatic spinal cord injury patients will be followed for the next 5 months. The research results will be correlated with clinical data of these patients.

Publications:

• Palmers I, Ydens E, Put E, Depreitere B, Bongers-Janssen H, Pickkers P, Hendrix S, Somers V. Antibody profiling identifies novel antigenic targets in spinal cord injury patients. J Neuroinflammation. 2016;13(1):243.