Chemical Test Quickly Finds Cognitive Damage in Stroke Patients

Testing for three brain chemicals reveals impairment faster than standard neuropsychological exams

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain is interrupted and brain cells starve of oxygen. Aftereffects include muscle weakness and altered senses. In many cases, strokes also affect the way a patient thinks or processes information.

Quickly identifying the effects of a stroke helps doctors to tailor rehabilitation programs to the needs of a patient. Currently, structural neuroimaging and neuropsychological tests assess cognitive damage, but these take time and require the patient to be involved and compliant.

Now, a team led by Weizhong Wang and Xiaoying Bi from the Second Military Medical University in Shanghai has analysed metabolic changes following a stroke. The researchers were particularly interested in identifying changes related to post-stroke cognitive impairment. Bi explains that these changes may be ‘caused by inflammation, neurotoxicity or oxidative stress’ because of the stroke.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

The team used paired ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and Q-TOF mass spectrometry to study serum samples from a control group, a post-stroke cognitively impaired group and a post-stroke non-cognitively impaired group of patients. Multivariate data analysis of the data set highlighted the different metabolic profiles of the groups and identified a wide range of metabolic changes.

To create a practical test, the team then used a regression model to pare down the metabolites to three that were simple to check for: glutamine—an amino acid; kynurenine—a metabolite of tryptophan; and lysoPC(18:2)—a lysophospholipid. These biomarkers can rapidly identify post-stroke cognitive impairment without actively involving the patient in the testing.

Peng Song, a specialist in neuro-analytical chemistry, from the Eastman Chemical Company in the US says the research signals the coming age of clinical metabolomics. ‘The finding paves the way for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms and eventually, more effective treatment,’ he adds.

This article is reproduced with permission from Chemistry World. The article was first published on November 2, 2015.

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American