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Biotech / Medical : Ciphergen Biosystems(CIPH): -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tuck who wrote (102)	4/3/2003 12:55:06 PM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 510

Unclear to me if this will lead to anything useful. A diagnostic for pain? Not sure how invasive it is to draw CSF: >>Pain 2003 Apr;102(3):251-256 Related Articles, Links Cystatin C as a cerebrospinal fluid biomarker for pain in humans. Mannes AJ, Martin BM, Yang HY, Keller JM, Lewin S, Gaiser RR, Iadarola MJ. Pain and Neurosensory Mechanisms Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda MD, USA Through a process of subtraction cloning and differential hybridization, we previously identified several new genes whose expression was induced by peripheral inflammation. One of these coded for cystatin C, a secreted cysteine protease inhibitor in the cystatin superfamily. We hypothesized that, concurrent with increased expression in dorsal horn, increased secretion would elevate the cystatin C content in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during active pain states. Alterations were assessed by immunoassay and by surface enhanced laser desorption ionization (SELDI) mass spectrometry with either reverse phase or immobilized anti-cystatin C antibody surfaces using CSF from ten age-matched obstetrical patients at term. Five control subjects were scheduled for an elective caesarian section and were not in pain. Another five subjects were in labor for 8.9+/-1h and were in severe pain as assessed with a visual analog scale and the McGill short form questionnaire. The level of cystatin C as measured by immunoassay in the non-pain patients was 2.77+/-0.75&mgr;g/ml and in the pain patients 5.36+/-0.92&mgr;g/ml (P<0.02). The elevation occurred without significant change in total CSF protein or beta-endorphin content. The cystatin C increase also was detectable by SELDI with either raw CSF or after antibody capture. These data are consistent with our previous animal study and the idea that persistent pain induces the synthesis and release of cystatin C in dorsal spinal cord, the surplus of which overflows into the CSF.<< Cheers, Tuck