title: Use of neuron-specific enolase for assessing the severity and outcome in patients with neurological disorders.
abstract: Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a glycolytic enzyme present almost exclusively in neurons and neuroendocrine cells. NSE levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are assumed to be useful to estimate neuronal injury and clinical outcome of patients with serious clinical manifestations such as those observed in stroke, head injury, anoxic encephalopathy, encephalitis, brain metastasis, and status epilepticus. We compared levels of NSE in serum (sNSE) and in CSF (cNSE) among four groups: patients with meningitis (N=11), patients with encephalic injuries associated with impairment of consciousness (ENC, N=7), patients with neurocysticercosis (N=25), and normal subjects (N=8). Albumin was determined in serum and CSF samples, and the albumin quotient was used to estimate blood-brain barrier permeability. The Glasgow Coma Scale score was calculated at the time of lumbar puncture and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score was calculated at the time of patient discharge or death. The ENC group had significantly higher cNSE (P=0.01) and albumin quotient (P=0.005), but not sNSE (P=0.14), levels than the other groups (Kruskal-Wallis test). Patients with lower GOS scores had higher cNSE levels (P=0.035) than patients with favorable outcomes. Our findings indicate that sNSE is not sensitive enough to detect neuronal damage, but cNSE seems to be reliable for assessing patients with considerable neurological insult and cases with adverse outcome. However, one should be cautious about estimating the severity of neurological status as well as outcome based exclusively on cNSE in a single patient.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Takayanagui
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leite
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020019:Neurocysticercosis / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase