Evaluation of serum markers of neuronal damage following severe hypoglycaemia in adults with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus
✍ Scribed by Mark W.J. Strachan; Hagosa D. Abraha; Roy A. Sherwood; G. Alistair Lammie; Ian J. Deary; Fiona M.E. Ewing; Petros Perros; Brian M. Frier
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 288 KB
- Volume
- 15
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1520-7552
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background Neurone-speci®c enolase (NSE) and protein S-100 (S-100) may be used as markers of acute neuronal damage in humans with neurological disorders.
Method To evaluate their use following a single episode of severe hypoglycaemia (de®ned as an episode requiring external assistance to aid recovery), serum concentrations of NSE and S-100 were measured following hypoglycaemia which had not caused persistent neurological impairment in 16 patients with insulin-treated diabetes (the hypo' subjects), and in three diabetic patients who died following severe hypoglycaemia. The serum proteins were also measured in 10 subjects with insulin-treated diabetes who had not experienced an episode of severe hypoglycaemia within the preceding year (the control' subjects).
Results
No differences in serum concentrations of NSE and S-100 were observed between the control' and the hypo' subjects at either 36 hours or seven days after the episode of severe hypoglycaemia ( p>0.05). However, in two of the three subjects who died following hypoglycaemia, serum concentrations of the markers were markedly elevated.
Conclusions Any neuronal injury occurring during severe hypoglycaemia that is not associated with persistent neurological de®cit is insuf®cient to provoke elevation of these serum markers. However, the measurement of serum concentrations of NSE and S-100 may have a prognostic role in evaluating clinical outcome following severe hypoglycaemia which is associated with neurological damage.