Proteomics of Brain Trauma-associated Elevated Intracranial Pressure (ICP) (Proteomics)

June 12, 2026 updated by: Georgene Hergenroeder, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
The specific aim of this research is to determine if the blood from brain-injured patients contains reproducible protein markers that appear prior to elevations in intracranial pressure (ICP).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

One of the major causes of death following brain trauma is increased intracranial pressure (ICP). Currently, there are no effective ways to predict if the ICP of a patient will reach uncontrollable levels. Various cytokines (balance between pro-and anti-inflammatory) and other factors are thought to underlie increases in ICP. The specific aim of this research is to determine if the blood from brain-injured patients contains reproducible protein markers that appear prior to elevations in ICP. We propose to employ mass spectrometry, antibody array and ELISA to profile proteins in the serum of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury. These protein profiles will be compiled by a pattern recognition program that has the capacity to learn and make predictions based on the spectra and associated patient information. Each time a sample is analyzed, it is added to the database allowing the program to make increasingly accurate predictions. Protein profiles of patients with known ICP values will be analyzed. Our hypothesis is that alterations in serum protein composition will precede changes in intracranial pressure giving rise to predictable patterns that can be detected using large-scale proteomic analysis. After approximately 90 non-brain trauma and 90 brain-trauma patients are analyzed, if markers are found, the predictability of elevated ICP will be tested. If successful, this may aid the neurosurgeon in determining future courses of treatment.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

260

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • The University of Texas, Houston

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 65 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Consenting healthy volunteers, head trauma, mild head trauma or acute orthopedic injury patients meeting enrollment criteria listed below.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 14-65 years old
  • Non-penetrating brain injury
  • ICP monitor or
  • Healthy volunteer or

The orthopedic injury cohort will include patients admitted to the ED able to provide informed consent with the following:

  1. Fracture confirmed radiographically
  2. No head trauma
  3. No other known inflammatory process or infection
  4. No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders or alcohol or drug dependency.

or The mild TBI patients will be defined as those experiencing,

  1. Non-penetrating head trauma manifesting one or more of the following:

    • Loss of consciousness
    • Post-traumatic amnesia
    • Altered mental status
    • Focal neurologic deficits, seizure
  2. GCS> 12
  3. No abnormalities on CT other than contusion
  4. No operative Lesions
  5. Length of hospital stay < 48 hrs
  6. No other known inflammatory process or infection
  7. No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders or alcohol or drug dependency

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Inability to obtain informed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
1 healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers to act as controls - Recruitment is complete for this cohort
Other: Blood/saliva samples for protein/molecular analysis
Bloods samples - healthy volunteers(1 time) head injury subjects (5 times). Blood and/or saliva samples mild TBI patients (2 times) and healthy volunteers (2 times)
Other Names:
  • blood samples
  • saliva samples
2 head trauma
Head trauma patients meeting enrollment criteria - Recruitment is complete for this cohort
Other: Blood/saliva samples for protein/molecular analysis
Bloods samples - healthy volunteers(1 time) head injury subjects (5 times). Blood and/or saliva samples mild TBI patients (2 times) and healthy volunteers (2 times)
Other Names:
  • blood samples
  • saliva samples
3 orthopedic injury

The orthopedic injury cohort will include patients admitted to the ED able to provide informed consent with the following:

  1. Fracture confirmed radiographically
  2. No head trauma
  3. No other known inflammatory process or infection
  4. No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders or alcohol or drug dependency Recruitment is complete.
Other: Blood/saliva samples for protein/molecular analysis
Bloods samples - healthy volunteers(1 time) head injury subjects (5 times). Blood and/or saliva samples mild TBI patients (2 times) and healthy volunteers (2 times)
Other Names:
  • blood samples
  • saliva samples
4 Mild TBI

The mild TBI patients will be defined as those admitted to the ED experiencing, - Recruitment is complete for this cohort

  1. Non-penetrating head trauma manifesting one or more of the following:

    • Loss of consciousness
    • Post-traumatic amnesia
    • Altered mental status
    • Focal neurologic deficits, seizure
  2. GCS> 12
  3. No abnormalities on CT other than contusion
  4. No operative Lesions
  5. Length of hospital stay < 48 hrs
  6. No other known inflammatory process or infection
  7. No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders or alcohol or drug dependency Recruitment is complete.
Other: Blood/saliva samples for protein/molecular analysis
Bloods samples - healthy volunteers(1 time) head injury subjects (5 times). Blood and/or saliva samples mild TBI patients (2 times) and healthy volunteers (2 times)
Other Names:
  • blood samples
  • saliva samples

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Elevated intracranial pressure
Time Frame: within the first 10 days post injury
Intracranial pressure >20mmHg
within the first 10 days post injury

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Collaborators

The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) Clinical Research Unit at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
TIRR/Mission Connect

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pramod Dash, PhD, The University of Texas, Houston

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 25, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 30, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

June 8, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 12, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 12, 2005

First Posted (Estimated)

September 15, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSC-MS-04-040
  • N-13-04-040

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

There is no plan to make individual participant data available

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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