Tag Archives: biomarkers
Plasma levels of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are not significantly altered in posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury
A. Shcherbakova1, D. Martsenkovskyi2, D. Stroy3, A. Savchenko4,
K. Vosnitsyna5, O. Sulaieva1, O. Dudin1, V. Dosenko3
1Medical Laboratory CSD LAB;
2Department of Psychiatry, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine;
3Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, National A cademy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
4Scientific and Medical Center “Doslid” (LLC “Medical Research”), Kyiv, Ukraine;
5State Institution Veteran Mental Health and Rehabilitation Center Forest Glade Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine;
e-mail: anna82201@gmail.com
Received: 04 April 2025; Revised: 12 May 2025;
Accepted: 11 June 2025; Available on-line: 07 July 2025
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are common consequences of combat exposure, significantly affecting both mental and physical health of military personnel. Identifying reliable biomarkers for these conditions is critical for timely diagnosis, monitoring of treatment effectiveness, and prediction of the disease course. The results of recent studies suggesting potential role of PACAP and BDNF in peripheral blood as biomarkers for PTSD have been yet unconclusive. In this study we analyzed the level of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the blood plasma of 450 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine divided into six groups based on their diagnosis: controls, PTSD, PTSD with TBI, TBI, complex PTSD (CPTSD), CPTSD with TBI. PTSD and CPTSD were diagnosed using the International Trauma Interview, and TBI using the Ohio State University TBI Identification Method. PACAP and BDNF levels were analyzed in the the fasting blood samples using ELISA. PACAP and BDNF levels in blood plasma in control group were 2.10 ± 0.26 and 5.13 ± 0.50 ng/ml, respectively. The study findings revealed no statistically significant differences in PACAP and BDNF levels among the study groups. The results obtained indicate potential limitations of using these biomarkers for stress disorders and TBI diagnosing in combat-exposed military populations and highlight the need for further research to identify reliable biomarkers with objective diagnostic value and prognostic significance.
Circulating levels of potential markers of ischemic stroke in patients with the different forms of atrial fibrillation and chronic heart failure
A. O. Tykhomyrov1*, O. Yu. Sirenko2, O. V. Kuryata2
1Department of Enzyme Chemistry and Biochemistry,
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine;
2Department of Internal Medicine 2, Phthisiology,
Occupational Diseases and Clinical Immunology, Dnipro State Medical University, Dnipro, Ukraine;
*e-mail: artem_tykhomyrov@ukr.net
Received: 19 January 2024; Revised: 13 March 2024;
Accepted: 17 March 2024; Available on-line: 30 April 2024
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common abnormal type of heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia), which is considered the leading cause of stroke. There have been limited studies on the prognostic markers for atrial disease and AF-associated ischemic stroke, despite the high demand for this procedure in daily clinical practice to monitor disease course and assess risk of stroke in patients with AF and chronic heart failure (CHF). Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of serum biomarkers related to ischemic stroke in CHF patients with the different forms of AF. Forty-six patients with various types of AF (paroxysmal, persistent and permanent) with or without ischemic stroke were enrolled in the study, 36 clinically healthy donors served as a control. The levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiostatins (AS) were evaluated by western blot analysis in the serum. The levels of active matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were analysed by gelatin zymography. Elevated levels of iNOS were shown in patients with all AF forms as compared with control, but iNOS levels in post-ischemic patients were significantly higher than that in paroxysmal AF individuals. However, the levels of VEGF and AS did not differ from the baseline value in patients with paroxysmal AF, while dramatic increase of their contents was shown in post-stroke patients with persistent and permanent types of AF. Elevated active MMP-9 levels were shown to be associated with the diagnosis of all AF forms, regardless of the occurrence of stroke. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that tested proteins can be considered as valuable biomarkers of AF forms transformation and potentially useful for ischemic stroke risk stratification in patients with AF and CHF. Observed changes in regulatory protein levels may expand our understanding of pathological roles of endothelial function dysregulation, disrupted angiogenesis balance and abnormal tissue remodeling in AF and associated ischemic events.