Correlation between serum GFAP and 3-NT levels and the degree of neuronal injury in patients with glioma after surgery, and its diagnostic value.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between postoperative serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) levels and neuronal injury severity in glioma patients.

Methods: 150 glioma patients were enrolled, with clinical baseline and pathological data recorded (age, sex, etc.). Neuronal injury was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) postoperatively, categorizing patients into mild (NIHSS 1 ~ 4,  = 54) and moderate-to-severe (NIHSS ≥5,  = 96) groups. Serum GFAP and 3-NT levels were measured three days post-surgery via ELISA. Correlations with NIHSS were analyzed with Spearman's test. Patients were also stratified by median biomarker levels. Multivariate logistic regression identified severity risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves evaluated diagnostic value.

Results: GFAP and 3-NT levels were higher in the moderate-to-severe group ( < 0.001) and positively correlated with NIHSS scores (GFAP:  = 0.552; 3-NT:  = 0.545). Higher biomarker levels were significantly associated with worse injury ( < 0.001). Both were independent risk factors for severity. Combining GFAP and 3-NT predicted severity significantly better than either alone ( < 0.001).

Conclusion: Postoperative serum GFAP and 3-NT levels correlate positively with neuronal injury severity in glioma patients. Their combination provides high diagnostic value for assessing postoperative injury severity.