Innate immune proteins as biomarkers for CNS injury: Critical evaluation (WO2013119673 A1)

Introduction: Injuries to the CNS represent a major global health problem. CNS injuries cause the elevation of many proteins, including innate immune proteins in biological fluids, such as the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These innate immune proteins can be considered as biomarkers to predict the severity of CNS injury in patients. Areas covered: This invention describes a method for the diagnosis/prognosis, treatment or rehabilitation efforts, and monitoring of post-treatment responses after CNS injuries in a patient, based on the detection and quantification of the expression levels of protein components of inflammasomes in the CSF. This study evaluates the elevated levels of inflammasome proteins such as NLRP1 (NAcht leucine-rich-repeat protein 1), ASC and caspase-1 in biological samples as important biomarkers that can assess the extent of neuroinflammation and reflect the magnitude of inflammation-induced damage following CNS injury. Expert opinion: Although inflammasome proteins may be of great clinical significance in the near future, a more detailed analysis of inflammasome proteins needs to be taken into account for the prognosis and treatment of diverse CNS conditions. Moreover, the potential inflammasome biomarker candidates have to be validated in a large number of patients for an extended period post-injury to further support clinical relevance.