Serum Biomarkers for Brain Injury
The possible use of serum biomarkers in patients with brain injury of various etiology remains a complex and pending issue due to the lack of specificity of biomarkers, variance in design of conducted studies, etc. One can identify hemodynamic and cardiac biomarkers (natriuretic peptides, troponins, etc.), markers of endothelial dysfunction (cellular fibronectin, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2), coagulation (D-dimer, fibrinogen), inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein, etc.), biomarkers of stress (cortisol and copeptin), as well as molecules that indicate direct damage to neuronal and glial brain tissue (glial fibrillar acidic protein, matrix metallopeptidase-9, neuron-specific enolase, S100B protein). They can be used to diagnose brain injury in cerebrovascular diseases and other disorders of the central nervous system (ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis, traumatic brain injury, control of brain tissue destruction while using focused ultrasound, etc.), as well as for more precise prediction of short- and long-term outcomes of a particular disorder. The aim of this review was to analyze the translational potential of the most promising serum biomarkers of brain tissue injury, which are currently under active research both in experiment (using animal models) and in neurological clinics.