Analysis of Peptidome Profiling of Serum from Patients with Early Onset Symptoms of Ischemic Stroke

Background We sought to identify new serum biomarkers for the early diagnosis of ischemic stroke. Methods We collected 63 serum samples from patients with neurologic disease (45 patients with ischemic stroke, 18 patients with other neurologic disorders, and 56 healthy controls). Serum peptides were extracted using immobilized copper ion chromatography on a robotic platform. Mass spectra were acquired by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry using an Autoflex II spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics, Billerica, MA). Statistical analyses were performed with Clinprotools 2.2 software (Bruker Daltonics) and SPSS software (version 15.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Results No peptide biomarker or panel of peptide biomarkers was identified to differentiate between ischemic stroke and other neurologic disease, but ischemic stroke patients were differentiated from healthy controls with a single feature of the peptidome (sensitivity 88.6%; specificity 96.4%). Conclusions Analysis of peptidome profiling of serum could be a useful tool in the search for early diagnostic biomarkers of ischemic stroke.