A Validation of a Genomics Based Prognostic in Severe Trauma

Specific Aim: To prospectively validate a rapid genomic test obtained from blood leukocyte subpopulation of severely traumatized patients in the first 24 hours after admission, that can be used to discriminate those patients who will have a complicated clinical trajectory and would, therefore, be good candidates for interventional, immunomodulatory therapies.

Following severe blunt traumatic injury and during recovery, alterations in the leukocyte transcriptome occur. Thus, we propose that a leukocyte transcriptome signal based on the expression of the validated 63 total leukocyte or 181 PMN genes can be used to identify patients who are at risk of a complicated clinical outcome, either alone or when combined with anatomical or physiological predictors. The goal of this clinical trial is to validate the predictive ability of this transcriptome-based prognostic.

This is a non-interventional, observational study of 200 severely injured patients with blunt trauma and 40 healthy volunteers. The entry criteria will be the same as has been used for the past eight years with the Glue Grant. Severe blunt injured patients that meet the inclusion criteria will undergo rapid leukocyte genomic screening at admission and the following morning(~24 hrs). Additional blood samples will be collected at 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days, or as long as the patients are in the trauma or surgical intensive care unit, for banking.

Over a four year period, we will enter 240 subjects from the University of Florida and from the University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center. In the trauma subjects, blood samples will be collected at admission, days 1, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28, or until discharge from the ICU or death. A total of 4 to 5 mLs of blood will be collected at each time point. In the healthy volunteers, a one-time blood sample will be collected.

Screening and Consent: Trauma patients will be identified by study personnel following presentation to the emergency room. The subject or legal next-of-kin will be approached for consent within 96 hours if the patient meets entry criteria. We ask for delayed consent in this patient population for 96 hours due to the severity of the injuries, the vulnerable nature of the patient at this early time, and the challenge in reaching the patient's legal representatives. Should informed consent not be obtained within 96 hours, all blood samples and data collected will be discarded.

Healthy volunteer subjects will be identified from the general population by way of advertisement flyers posted at the respective universities. The flyers will provide contact information for the laboratories. Healthy subjects will be screened via inclusion/exclusion criteria upon contact. If appropriate for participation, the subject will be consulted for consent.

Blood will be collected from existing access, or by venipuncture, if required. Blood will be promptly placed on ice and transferred to the laboratory where it will be processed for cell lysates and plasma.

All other relevant clinical data and hemodynamic measurements will be collected daily while patient is hospitalized.

• Demographic information.
• Past and present medical records
• Laboratory, microbiology, and all other test results
• X-ray, CT, MRI, US and all other imaging test results
• Records about any medication received during admission
• Records of physical exam during admission
• Records of all vital signs and hemodynamic monitoring during admission
• Records of any procedure or intervention during admission
• Records of any procedure or intervention during hospital admission
• Condition at the discharge and discharge facility

Each of the two clinical sites will maintain responsibility for the collection and storage of clinical data. REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) will be used for the collection of clinical data. It is a secure, Web-based application designed to support traditional case report form data capture. Cell lysates obtained at the University of Washington-Harborview Medical Center will be shipped to the University of Florida for genomic analyses, while plasma samples collected at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida will be shipped to the University of Washington for cytokine analyses by Luminex™. At yearly intervals, electronic data transfers from the University of Florida to the University of Washington of both non-identifiable, coded clinical data and cytokine and genomic data will occur.

Blood draws related to the study will be done at the bedside in a manner compatible with the standard of clinical care or in our laboratories for healthy volunteers. Tubes used for the blood draws related to study will be labeled with the unique study number and will not carry any patient identifier. The key linking unique patient number and patients personal identifiers will be stored in a password protected and encrypted file and will be only accessible for the PI and the research team. All patient collected clinical data will be stored in a cabinet that is located in the office of the PI or research team. The computer used for the storage of data will be located in the office of the PI or research staff that is always locked. The computer will be password protected and encrypted.

We have based our assessment for the number of subjects on our preliminary data set from 1637 severe trauma subjects. In that study, of the 1637 subjects, 31% or 507 patients had a time to recovery of less than five days, and could be identified as having an uncomplicated outcome. In contrast, 442 patients or 27% had complicated outcome, as defined by either late death or MOF lasting longer than 14 days. Assuming a similar frequency of complicated and uncomplicated patients in the 200 subjects, we would expect 62 of these subjects to be discharged within 5 days without organ injury, and 54 subjects to have prolonged organ failure and/or late death. These numbers are well within the ranges required for statistical validation of these different models.

We anticipate that our overall consent rate for this observational study with minimal risk will be 75% meaning that to achieve an accrual rate of 25 trauma subjects per year at each institution, we will have to have 34 subjects per year meeting entry criteria. We expect no difficulty in accruing these 200 subjects over a four year period at the participating sites. They are both Level 1 trauma centers that have excess capacity to complete the proposed studies.

In this protocol, the only study specific intervention will be the collection of blood. The risks of drawing blood from a vein include discomfort at the site of puncture; possible bruising and swelling around the puncture site; rarely an infection; and, uncommonly, faintness from the procedure. Invasion of privacy will be negated with the use of coding for all data and specimens collected.

There are no direct benefits to study subjects for participation. This research may benefit society in the future. This study may one day result in new tests or treatments, or may help to prevent or cure diseases. No conflict of interest exists for the PI or sub-investigator.