EFFICACY OF PHYSIOTHERAPY INTERVENTIONS ON IMMUNE MODULATION IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY: A FOCUS ON INFLAMMATORY MARKER REDUCTION

Introduction. Children with cerebral palsy benefit from a wide range of rehabilitation techniques. However, little is known about the impact on the body's pathophysiological processes. Gaining a deeper insight into these processes would assist in creating personalized counseling for patients and enable more targeted rehabilitation. Aim. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a 30-day rehabilitation program on the serum cytokine profile of children with cerebral palsy by identifying CP-independent biomarkers, assessing rehabilitation-induced changes, and analyzing their role in inflammatory and immune response processes. Materials and Methods. This study included 15 healthy children (6.42 ± 2.76 years) and 14 children with cerebral palsy (5.10 ± 2.45 years). The rehabilitation program for the children with CP was scheduled for five sessions per week (Saturdays and Sundays were days off) for 6 weeks (42 days total), resulting in 30-day rehabilitation. The sera proteome was analyzed using the Proteome Profiler XL Human Cytokine Array Kit. The relative levels of a predetermined set of 105 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors were measured. First, pooled sera samples from 14 children with cerebral palsy were compared to 15 healthy children. Next, markers with no difference from healthy children were followed before and after 30-day rehabilitation. Results. 14 children with cerebral palsy compared to 15 age-matched healthy children showed a relatively same level of 97 sera markers, i.e. CP-independent markers. Complement component C5/C5a, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, IL-8, and adiponectin, i.e. 5 out of 97 markers showed a rehabilitation-induced level decline after 30-day rehabilitation. Conclusions. The investigation of the sera proteome of children with cerebral palsy showed a declining trend in levels of inflammatory markers, such as complement component C5/C5a, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, IL-8, and adiponectin, after 30-day rehabilitation.