Received on May 4, 2005
Accepted on July 29, 2005

Proteomics and Protein Markers

PARK7 and Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinase A as Plasma Markers for the Early Diagnosis of Stroke

¹ Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Department of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Medical and University Center, Geneva, Switzerland
² Neurology Department, Central Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
³ Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Department of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Medical and University Center, Geneva, Switzerland, and Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Central Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
⁴ Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Department of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Medical and University Center, Geneva, Switzerland, and Biomedical Proteomics Research Group, Central Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, and Pharmacy Section, Faculty of Sciences, Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: laure.allard{at}medecine.unige.ch.

Background: Plasma markers for stroke could be useful in diagnosis and prognosis and in prediction of response of stroke patients to therapy. PARK7 and nucleoside diphosphate kinase A (NDKA) are increased in human postmortem cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a model of global brain insult, suggesting that measurement in CSF and, more importantly, in plasma may be useful as a biomarker of stroke.

Methods: We used ELISA to measure PARK7 and NDKA in plasma in 3 independent European and North American retrospective studies encompassing a total of 622 stroke patients and 165 control individuals.

Results: Increases in both biomarkers were highly significant, with sensitivities of 54%-91% for PARK7 and 70%-90% for NDKA and specificities of 80%-97% for PARK7 and 90%-97% for NDKA. The concentrations of both biomarkers increased within 3 h of stroke onset.

Conclusions: PARK7 and NDKA may be useful plasma biomarkers for the early diagnosis of stroke. In addition, this study demonstrated the utility of analysis of postmortem CSF proteins as a first step in the discovery of plasma markers of ischemic brain injury.