Evidence mapPaperPMID 42589232Full record

ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2026

Psychological Distress and Biological Stress Markers After Spinal Cord Injury: A Longitudinal Multi-Omics Pilot Study.

Simona Capossela, Alessandro Bertolo, Alexander Stacul, Franziska Singer, Claudio Peter, Xavier Jordan, Margret Hund-Georgiadis, Björn Zörner, Jivko Stoyanov

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Simona CaposselaSCI Population Biobanking and Translational Research, Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.ORCID 0009-0008-2643-5543
Alessandro BertoloSCI Population Biobanking and Translational Research, Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-5059-5071
Alexander StaculSCI Population Biobanking and Translational Research, Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.ORCID 0009-0002-8653-2317
Franziska SingerNEXUS Personalized Health, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-6017-1595
Claudio PeterDepartment of Health, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland.
Xavier JordanClinique Romande de Réadaptation, 1951 Sion, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-3389-0057
Margret Hund-GeorgiadisREHAB Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-4415-2888
Björn ZörnerSwiss Paraplegic Center, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.
Jivko StoyanovSCI Population Biobanking and Translational Research, Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-6842-6284

Funding

Swiss Paraplegic Research and Swiss Paraplegi Foundation NA
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This pilot study examined longitudinal changes in psychological distress and biomarkers related to stress, inflammation, and biological aging during the first inpatient rehabilitation after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). We analyzed data from 120 participants in the SwiSCI inception cohort at two timepoints: the beginning of the first post-injury rehabilitation and discharge. A subset of 50 participants representing four distress patterns (high chronic, low, transient, increasing distress) underwent biomarker analyses, including measurements of immune and inflammatory proteins and whole-blood transcriptomic profiling. The results showed that psychological distress, depression, and protein carbonyl content decreased significantly by discharge. In contrast, cortisol levels and telomere length showed no significant changes. Proteomic analyses revealed a broad downregulation of inflammatory proteins (e.g., IFN-γ, IL-10, LIF) at discharge, whereas transcriptomic profiles did not differ between timepoints. The high chronic distress group showed lower expression of six genes involved in adaptive immunity, neural development and apoptosis. Psychological distress was not linearly associated with global biomarker profiles. However, CXCL1 and IL-7 showed low-to-moderate correlations with depression and anxiety, respectively. This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of integrating psychological and molecular data to investigate biological response following SCI. The findings are exploratory and need validation in larger studies with longer follow-up periods.

Indexed as

BiomarkersSpinal Cord InjuriesStress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleGene Expression ProfilingHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedMultiomicsPilot ProjectsProteomicsTranscriptomeBiomarkersaging biomarkersinflammationproteomicspsychological distressspinal cord injurytranscriptomics

Identifiers

PMID42589232
PMCPMC13465420

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.