GLIAL FIBRILLARY ACIDIC PROTEIN IN THE CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID - A POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF PROGNOSIS IN FULL-TERM ASPHYXIATED NEWBORN-INFANTS

Citation
M. Blennow et al., GLIAL FIBRILLARY ACIDIC PROTEIN IN THE CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID - A POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF PROGNOSIS IN FULL-TERM ASPHYXIATED NEWBORN-INFANTS, Pediatric research, 37(3), 1995, pp. 260-264
Citations number
37
Categorie Soggetti
Pediatrics
Journal title
ISSN journal
00313998
Volume
37
Issue
3
Year of publication
1995
Pages
260 - 264
Database
ISI
SICI code
0031-3998(1995)37:3<260:GFAPIT>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is the structural protein of in termediate filaments in astroglia. GFAP has extensively been used as a marker of gliosis in neuropathology. It also appears in excessive amo unts in the cerebrospinal fluid in various acute brain disorders. Hypo xic-ischemic encephalopathy after perinatal asphyxia is a condition in which levels of GFAP could be expected to be elevated if brain cell d amage occurs. We examined levels of GFAP by a sensitive ELISA in the c erebrospinal fluid of full-term infants between 12 and 48 h after birt h. Cerebrospinal fluid-GFAP increased 5-fold in infants after perinata l asphyxia compared with a reference group (675 versus 137 ng/L, p < 0 .001). The levels of GFAP also increased gradually in accordance with the severity of the neurologic symptoms ranked as degree of hypoxic-is chemic encephalopathy. We conclude that the cerebrospinal fluid levels of GFAP might be an important adjunct in the neonatal assessment of i nfants subject to perinatal asphyxia, and together with other neuronal or glial proteins, it might also help in defining temporal relationsh ips asphyxia.