A novel time-resolved fluorescent lateral flow immunoassay for quantitative detection of the trauma brain injury biomarker-glial fibrillary acidic protein

A highly sensitive time-resolved fluorescence lateral flow immunoassay (TRF-LFIA) was developed to quantify glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a trauma brain injury (TBI) biomarker in blood, for the purpose of providing a diagnosis of mild brain injury.

Absence of attack-independent neuroaxonal injury in MOG antibody-associated disease: Longitudinal assessment of serum neurofilament light chain

To evaluate the occurrence of attack-independent neuroaxonal and astrocytic damage in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) levels were longitudinally measured in 102 sera using a single-molecule array assay. Sera from 15 adults with relapsing MOGAD with available longitudinal samples for the median 24-month follow-up and 26 age-/sex-matched healthy controls were analyzed. sNfL levels were significantly elevated in all clinical attacks, where the levels decreased below or close to cut-off value within 6 months after attacks. sNfL levels were consistently low during inter-attack periods. In contrast, sGFAP levels did not increase in most clinical attacks and remained low during follow-up. Significant neuroaxonal damage was observed at clinical attacks, while attack-independent neuroaxonal and astrocytic injury was absent in MOGAD.

Identification of potential astrocytes in the teleost brain

Astrocytes are abundant star-shaped glial cells in the mammalian brain, with essential roles in metabolism, development, homeostasis, response to injury, behavior, and learning. Surprisingly, most regions of the teleost brain are thought to lack astrocytes, based primarily on the use of GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) as a marker. Here, drawing on recent evidence that astrocytes are molecularly heterogeneous, we propose that astrocytes exist in the teleost brain, albeit of the olig2 subtype. Highly branched cells are present throughout the zebrafish brain, as shown here in Tg(sox10:EGFP) fish and previously in Tg(olig2:GFP) fish. Transcriptome data indicates the presence of brain cells that are olig2 and sox10 positive, which also express the astrocyte markers sox9b, sparcl1 and slc1a2b but lack gfap and the oligodendrocyte marker mbp. In situ hybridization confirms that stellate sox10:EGFP cells express olig2 and sox9b, while immunofluorescence indicates that they lack HuC/D and GFAP. We suggest that these cells be classified as astrocytes as this may more accurately reflect their functions.

Autoimmune Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Astrocytopathy Associated With Area Postrema Syndrome: A Case Report

Glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy is an immunotherapy-responsive autoimmune disease of the central nervous system with various clinical manifestations; among these, there are few reports about area postrema syndrome (APS). The authors present the case of a female patient admitted to the hospital with intractable nausea and vomiting as the predominant symptom. The patient's cerebrospinal fluid was tested by cell-based assays (CBA) and found positive for the presence of anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibody, in addition, serological testing showed elevated levels of thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase-specific antibodies. Brain and cervical MRI showed abnormally high signal on the T2 sequence in the dorsal medulla oblongata and right pontine arm. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy. The symptoms improved rapidly after treatment with corticosteroids, and no recurrence has been observed thus far. APS may be a relatively rare clinical manifestation of GFAP astrocytopathy. Importantly, such presentation is challenging to correctly diagnose without typical MRI imaging findings. However, the detection of antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid or serum may be valuable. Systemic and neurological autoimmunity often coexist, comprehensive antibody screening should be conducted.

Role of neuron-specific enolase, glial fibrillar acidic protein and NR2-antibodies in early diagnostic of ischemic stroke

Background. Application of a biomarker panel during the acute period of the ischemic stroke (IS) can contribute to a more accurate and prompter diagnostics and verification of the optimal approach to a patients’ management.Objective. We aimed to clarify values of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) and antibodies for NMDA receptor’s NR2-subunit (NR2-antibodies) in the acute period of IS, to compare with such values in patients without IS, to assess their relationship with severity of neurological deficit and short-term outcome and also to establish sensitivity and specificity of the biomarker panel.Design and methods. 63 patients with IS and 31 people (11 with chronic brain ischemia and 20 healthy individuals) as controls were included. Results. NSE and GFAP values in IS group exceeded reference values at the onset of disease, lowering significally by 10-14 day, while NR2-antibodies’ values were lower at the onset of the disease compared with controls, rising by 10-14 day. In patients with unfavourable short-term outcome higher levels of NSE, GFAP and NR2-antibodies were found. A panel of such biomarkers has higher sensitivity and specificity than each of them individually.Conclusion. Researched substances can be used in a biomarker panel for IS diagnostics, brain damage monitoring, patient’s condition evaluation and short outcome prognosing.

Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Nusinersen-Treated Patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy

BackgroundActivated astroglia is involved in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases and has also been described in animal models of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Given the urgent need of biomarkers for treatment monitoring of new RNA-modifying and gene replacement therapies in SMA, we examined glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) concentrations as a marker of astrogliosis in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children and adult patients with SMA before and during treatment with nusinersen.Methods58 adult patients and 21 children with genetically confirmed 5q-associated SMA from 4 German motor neuron disease specialist care centers and 30 age- and sex-matched controls were prospectively included in this study. GFAP concentration was measured in CSF and motor performance and disease severity were assessed.ResultsCSF GFAP concentrations did not differ from controls but showed higher levels in more severely affected patients after adjustment for patients’ age. Within 14 months of nusinersen treatment, CSF GFAP concentrations did not change significantly.ConclusionsGFAP concentration in CSF of patients with long-standing SMA is not useful to assess disease severity or predict treatment response, but might support the hypothesis that glial activation is involved in SMA pathology.