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Glycans as Potential Diagnostic Markers of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children
Mårten Kvist1, Lasse Välimaa1, Adrian Harel1
1Medicortex Finland Plc, 20520 Turku, Finland.
Insights
Diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children is difficult. Researchers found specific glycan changes in saliva and urine that could lead to a new rapid diagnostic test for TBI.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in acute settings is challenging due to nonspecific symptoms and unmet imaging criteria.
- A rapid diagnostic test using body fluids could improve TBI identification in pediatric patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify potential biomarkers in urine and saliva for diagnosing acute mild TBI in children.
- To explore the feasibility of developing a point-of-care test for pediatric TBI.
Main Methods:
- Collected urine and saliva samples from 28 pediatric mild TBI patients and 30 healthy controls.
- Analyzed lectin-binding glycan levels using fluorescence to detect nerve tissue damage.
- Compared glycan levels between TBI patients and controls using statistical tests.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in nine salivary glycans and one urinary glycan were observed in the TBI group compared to controls.
- Seven urinary glycans showed significant decreases in the TBI group.
- These glycan alterations suggest potential diagnostic value for TBI detection.
Conclusions:
- Specific glycan profiles in saliva and urine may serve as biomarkers for pediatric mild TBI.
- Further research is warranted to develop a rapid, body fluid-based point-of-care test for TBI diagnosis in children.
Abstract:
Diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the acute setting is challenging due to the nonspecific and often transient or delayed symptoms. Further, the criteria for acute head imaging are frequently not fulfilled, which may lead to a missed diagnosis. A rapid test to diagnose TBI using body fluids would be highly useful. Urine and saliva samples were collected from 28 pediatric patients (mean [SD] age, eight years two months [four years three months]) with acute, clinically diagnosed mild TBI and 30 healthy volunteers at Satasairaala Hospital, Pori, Finland, over 11 months. The mean (SD) time from trauma to first sampling was 3 h 56 min (1 h 14 min). Samples were analyzed to determine the number of lectin-binding glycan molecules, indicating nerve tissue damage. The relative levels of several lectin-bound glycans were measured by fluorescence. Compared with healthy controls, the TBI group showed significant increases (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank-sum two-sided test) in nine glycans in the saliva, one glycan in the urine, and a significant decrease in seven glycans in the urine. These findings of potentially diagnostic glycans in body fluids after TBI warrant further research and may enable the development of a rapid body fluid-based point-of-care test to identify pediatric patients with TBI after a head injury.
