Clinical Relevance of S100B in Post-concussion Symptoms and Functional Outcomes in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Mild TBI (mTBI) often presents with a cluster of cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms commonly referred to as post-concussion syndrome (PCS). As these symptoms are self-settling, they are often underestimated and left underreported, resulting in unexpected psychological disturbances in the long term. The present study aims to estimate the numerical value of biochemical marker S100B in identifying PCS symptoms and discriminating between good and bad outcomes three months later.

Methodology: The study subjects ranged between 18 and 72 years. On admission, serum concentrations of S100B were estimated by ELISA. The Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) estimated PCS symptoms on admission. The Rivermead Head Injury Follow-Up Questionnaire (RHFUQ) was used to assess the disability and recovery three months later. Correlation of S100B was analysed with every aspect of RPQ, and GOSE scores. All the statistical analyses were carried out using GraphPad Prism 9.1 and OriginPro 2024.

Results: S100B positively correlated with fatigue (r=0.41, p=0.08) and depression (r=0.33, p=0.04) symptoms in RPQ. The biomarkers exhibited significant differences in concentration concerning the presence/absence of PCS symptoms like headache, dizziness, and fatigue (Mann–Whitney p=0.001,0.04,0.02) and clinical presentations like vomiting and seizures (Mann–Whitney p=0.02, 0.01). S100B correlates with GOS-E outcome scores but not with RHFUQ scores during the 3-month follow-up.

Conclusion: The present study showed that S100B can detect PCS initially; however, its outcome prediction ability in terms of RHFUQ is limited