Brain extracellular fluid protein changes in acute stroke patients

In vivo human brain extracellular fluids (ECF) of acute stroke patients were investigated to assess the changes in protein levels associated with ischemic damages. Microdialysates (MDs) from the infarct core (IC), the penumbra (P), and the unaffected contralateral (CT) brain regions of patients suffering an ischemic stroke (n = 6) were compared using a shotgun proteomic approach based on isobaric tagging and mass spectrometry. Quantitative analysis showed 53 proteins with increased amounts in the IC or P with respect to the CT samples. Glutathione S-transferase P (GSTP1), peroxiredoxin-1 (PRDX1), and protein S100-B (S100B) were further assessed with ELISA on the blood of unrelated control (n = 14) and stroke (n = 14) patients. Significant increases of 8- (p = 0.0002), 20- (p = 0.0001), and 11-fold (p = 0.0093) were found, respectively. This study highlights the value of ECF as an efficient source to further discover blood stroke markers.