title: Caspase-3 activity is present in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Loss of neurons after traumatic brain injury (TBI) might involve dysregulated apoptosis. Activation of caspase-3 is one hallmark of apoptosis. Therefore, caspase-3 activity (cleavage of DEVD-afc) was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples (n=113) from 27 patients with TBI at day 1 to 14 after trauma. Caspase-3 activity was detected in 31 (27.4%) CSF samples with highest values (> 5.5 microM/min) seen at day 2-5 after trauma. No caspase-3 activity was found in serum from patients or CSF from controls. The presence of activated caspase-3 in CSF suggests ongoing apoptotic processes during traumatic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Härter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hentze
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leist
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ertel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D003374:Coumarins; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009842:Oligopeptides
chemical_list: D003374:Coumarins; D009842:Oligopeptides; C115495:aspartyl-glutamyl-valyl-aspartyl-7-amino-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases