Molecular Biomarkers in Stroke Diagnosis and Prognosis

Abstract

Serum biomarkers related to the cascade of inflammatory, hemostatic, glial and neuronal perturbations have been identified to diagnose and characterize intracerebral hemorrhage and cerebral ischemia. Interpretation of most markers is confounded by their latent rise, blood–brain barrier effects, the heterogeneity of etiologies and the wide range of normal values, limiting their application for early diagnosis, lesion size estimation and long-term outcome prediction. Certain hemostatic and inflammatory constituents have been found to predict response to thrombolysis and worsening due to infarct progression and secondary hemorrhage, offering a potential role for improved treatment selection and individualization of therapy. Biomarkers will become increasingly relevant for developing targets for neuroprotective therapies, monitoring response to treatment and as surrogate end points for treatment trials.

KEYWORDS::

• biomarkers
• cytokines
• diagnosis
• inflammation
• prognosis
• severity
• stroke
• worsening

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Mathew B Maas and Karen L Furie are supported by NIH (grant P50NS051343). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Mathew B Maas and Karen L Furie are supported by NIH (grant P50NS051343). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.