143 - Marker of fetal brain maturation and perinatal damage
Autor(s): D. Gazzolo
Issue: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 6, N. 2, 2010 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
Page(s): 143-146
Epidemiological reports showed that major neurological abnormalities present during childhood are already present in the first weeks after birth. This highlights the importance of antenatal and perinatal risk factors in subsequent development. Knowledge on the timing is still incomplete and subject to debate. At present, the diagnosis of perinatal insults has to rely on adequate documentation of general-medical and obstetric factors, on radiological and laboratory assessments (determination of blood pH, the measurement of uric acid and lactate and the appearance of nucleated erythrocytes in the blood). Of note, the measurement of brain constituents may offer both an indicator of cell damage and of cell growth in the nervous system (CNS). Such markers are also natural candidates to become early pathological indicators of CNS dysfunction at a time when clinical and radiological assessments are still silent also providing a quantitative indicator of the extent of brain lesions. The S100B protein, a calcium-binding protein highly concentrated in the nervous system, appears to satisfy the criteria required of such a marker in perinatal medicine: a) good reproducibility and simple execution/ performance of measurements; b) detection in a wide range of biological fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid, blood, amniotic fluid and urine, offering the possibility of reducing perinatal stress; c) possible employment in longitudinal monitoring owing to its half-life; d) wellestablished use as an early and quantitative marker of brain maturation and damage.