The concentration of serum neopterin in patients with surgical treatment of spondyloarthrosis complicated byfacet syndrome

Objective. To study the concentration of serum neopterin in patients before and after surgical treatment of pain syndrome caused by the formation of facet syndrome associated with spondyloarthrosis. Materials and methods. The study involved 52 patients (32 men and 20 women) hospitalized to the neurosurgical department of the City Clinical Hospital No. 4. The main group consisted of 26 patients with spondyloarthrosis complicated by chronic pain associated with facet syndrome. The comparison group (n=26) consisted of patients with pain syndrome in radiculopathy. The control group (comparable in gender and age) consisted of 10 people who underwent periodic examination. The concentration of neopterin in blood serum was determined by solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) using the Neopterin ELISA kit (cat. No. 59321; lot ENO230) ("IBL", Germany). Results. Statistically significant differences in the level of serum neopterin concentration (p = 0.0016) were revealed between the studied groups. The highest concentration of neopterin was noted in the comparison group, where it was 10.31 ± 2.02 nmol/l, exceeding the results of the control group (p=0.02256) and the main group (p=0.04996). Three months after surgical treatment of patients in the main group, the median content of serum neopterin decreased by 1.161 times (p = 0.049029). Conclusion. Further studies to clarify the influence of pain on metabolic processes and neopterin in particular are required.