A pilot study of novel biomarkers in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
Severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating condition that can lead to mortality and long-term disabilities in term newborns. No rapid and reliable laboratory test exists to assess the degree of neuronal injury in these patients. We propose two possible biomarkers: 1) phosphorylated axonal neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H) protein, one of the major subunits of neurofilaments, found only in axonal cytoskeleton of neurons and 2) Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase 1 (UCHL1 protein) that is heavily and specifically concentrated in neuronal perikarya and dendrites. High-serum pNF-H and UCHL1 levels are reported in subarachnoid hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury, suggesting that they are released into blood following neuronal injury. We hypothesized that serum pNF-H and UCHL1 were higher in neonates with moderate-to-severe HIE than in healthy neonates. A time-limited enrollment of 14 consecutive patients with HIE and 14 healthy controls was performed. UCHL1 and pNF-H were correlated with clinical data and brain MRI. UCHL1 and pNF-H serum levels were higher in HIE versus controls. UCHL1 showed correlation with the 10-min Apgar score, and pNF-H showed correlation with abnormal brain MRI. Our findings suggest that serum UCHL1 and pNF-H could be explored as diagnostic and prognostic tools in neonatal HIE.
Douglas-Escobar
Martha
M
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Yang
Cui
C
Bennett
Jeffrey
J
Shuster
Jonathan
J
Theriaque
Douglas
D
Leibovici
Avital
A
Kays
David
D
Zheng
Tong
T
Rossignol
Candace
C
Shaw
Gerry
G
Weiss
Michael D
MD
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010865:Pilot Projects; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase / Q000378:metabolism
D015415:Biomarkers; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; C482860:UCHL1 protein, human; C051774:neurofilament protein H; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase