Microinsult will be determined by proteins
Biomarkers of micro stroke found
American scientists have discovered biomarkers of human blood that will help doctors not to miss a micro-stroke. The results of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (O'Connell et al., Large-scale informatic analysis to algorithmically identify blood biomarkers of neurological damage).
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have been working for several years to identify biomarkers that can be used to determine brain tissue damage using a simple blood test.
The symptoms of a serious stroke are usually obvious – impaired facial expressions, slurred speech, weakness in the limbs. And many minor strokes often go unnoticed until they are detected by advanced clinical tests, such as MRI or computed tomography.
"One might think that the manifestations of stroke are known, and this is true for severe cases. But most minor strokes are actually insignificant in terms of initial symptoms, – the words of the head of the study, Grant O'Connell, associate professor and director of the laboratory of biomarkers and Basic Sciences at the University School of Nursing are quoted in a university press release. - Many people just think they have a severe migraine, so they don't go to the hospital."
But the treatment of any strokes, including minor ones, depends very much on time. Therefore, according to O'Connell, it is important for medical professionals to recognize the symptoms of micro-strokes.
"Emergency doctors do not have CT scans or MRI scans, they are not even in the emergency departments of some small hospitals," the scientist continues. "Because of this, doctors miss up to a third of strokes at the first contact with the patient, which postpones treatment that could prevent death or disability."
According to the authors, the discovery of blood biomarkers associated with stroke will help to avoid such delays.
The idea of finding biomarkers of brain damage in the blood is not new. For a long time, specialists in neurodiagnostics have been identifying proteins that are expressed in brain injuries. But it turned out that this data is outdated.
"We started to realize that the proteins we are studying as biomarker candidates were identified about 20-40 years ago," explains O'Connell. "Many of them are not as specific to the brain as previously thought. Now we already know that they are expressed in other organs, not only in the brain. Therefore, you will think that you have a brain injury, and you don't have one."
The researchers used a specially developed algorithm for evaluating expression patterns to study genes in thousands of samples of brain tissue and other organs. This allowed them to identify proteins that serve as specific biomarkers of neurological damage. In total, the scientists identified about 50 new markers, which were then successfully detected in the blood of stroke patients.
The authors hope that their discovery will be the first step towards creating convenient clinical tests for detecting micro-strokes.
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