Background:
Tuberculous (TB) spondylitis is a hazardous infectious disease causing significant spinal deformity. Increased toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) activity promotes more extensive infections in patients with TB spondylitis, so it has the potential to be used as a biomarker to predict the severity. This study aims to determine the relationship between TLR-4 levels and the degree of vertebral destruction in TB spondylitis patients.
Materials and Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted from May – October 2023. A total of 27 TB spondylitis samples were then measured for TLR-4 serum levels. Vertebral destruction is assessed based on the Spine At Risk Signs (SARS) criteria on X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. Moreover, the degree of sensory and motor impairment was also assessed in this study. The Spearman correlation test assessed the correlation between TLR-4 levels and vertebral destruction.
Results:
Most of the samples in this study were<30 years old (10 people, 37%), female (14 people, 51.9%), had spinal destruction at 1 level (11 people, 40.7%), had paraplegia (8 people, 29.6%), and had hypoesthesia (11 people, 40.7%). TLR-4 levels had a mean value of 8,254.1±1,076.1 ng/mL. TLR-4 levels were positively correlated with the degree of vertebral destruction (r=0.599, P=0.001), motor disorders (r=0.632.x, P=0.000), and sensory disorders (r=0.574, P=0.002).
Conclusion:
TLR-4 levels are associated with the severity of vertebral destruction in TB spondylitis, so it has the potential to be used as a prognostic biomarker.