Serologic assay for silent brain ischemia

Abstract

The invention provides a method for detection or monitoring status of silent brain ischemia (SBI) and cerebrovascular health. The assay reagents and methods described herein provide a specific indicator of cerebral microvascular disease, enabling clinicians to identify patients at risk for the development of SBI. A method of treating a subject having silent brain ischemia and / or metabolic syndromecomprises administering to the subject aspirin therapy, blood pressure therapy, body weight management, and / or a program of diet and exercise when levels of two or more SBI markers are elevated. Described herein are molecules that are produced by cerebral endothelial cells exposed to chronic vascular risk factors including obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and glucose intolerance. These stress molecules produced by cerebral endothelial cells are detectable in the serum and serve as diagnostic indicators of brain-specific endothelial cell damage and correlate with MRI indicators of silentstroke and impaired cognitive function.

Description

[0001] related application [0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 461,161, filed February 20, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated into this application by reference. Background technique [0003] Obesity is a major public health problem in the United States. More than a third of adults are obese. Obesity is strongly associated with the development of metabolic syndrome, which produces various vascular risk factors, including hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and low HDL. These factors increase the risk of developing chronic vascular disease, especially cerebrovascular disease. Studies have shown that patients with metabolic syndrome have a sixfold increased risk of developing brain microvascular infarction, which primarily damages the white matter of the brain, leading to dementia, disability, and even death. [0004] Every year, millions of Americans suffer from asymptomatic strokes, also known ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Current field standards for stroke predictive assays are based on patients arriving at healthcare facilities for acute strokes, rather than identifying asymptomatic forms of stroke, which increases the risk of long-term consequences including disability, dementia, and death

Additionally, none of these predictive assays are based on discovery-based studies, but use case-control approaches that are necessarily limited and often use single-molecule profiling rather than target arrays

[0006] There is no diagnostic test that can predict an individual's stroke risk, and no diagnostic test that actually indicates cerebrovascular health

Images