The present technology provides methods for detecting and diagnosing diseases and conditions characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction using monocytes as an indicator of the dysfunction.

The present invention relates to biomarkers and diagnostic and prognostic methods for vascular diseases. In particular, proteins of platelet-derived exosomes have been identified as biomarkers that can be used to detect platelet activation associated with pathogenesis of vascular diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The invention also provides compositions for detecting biomarkers as well as compositions and methods useful for treating vascular diseases.

The present invention provides a highly sensitive in vitro method for diagnosing injury to the central nervous system (CNS), such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or stroke. The method involves contacting a sample of blood from a subject suspected of suffering a CNS injury event with at least one antibody capable of detecting a proteolytic fragment of the biomarker Protein Kinase C, gamma isoform (PKCg or PKCγ), which fragment corresponds to a proteolytic fragment of PKCg formed in the excitotoxic environment resulting from neuronal damage. Also disclosed are novel anti-PKCg antibodies useful in the diagnostic methods of the invention to provide diagnosis of CNS injury with essentially 100% accuracy.

Provided is a multi-layered filter for separating blood components and a disease diagnosis kit using the same. The multi-layered filter for separating blood components may include a first filter unit configured to separate blood cells from a whole blood sample, a second filter unit configured to separate cell fragments having blood platelet or exosome, and a third filter unit configured to separate protein, wherein the whole blood sample is separated into blood components by passing through the filter units provided to have different pore sizes, thereby effectively separating individual components of the blood without a separate machine. In addition, after filtering, the multi-layered filter may be disassembled to diagnose each component remaining in the filter so as to be utilized for diagnosis.

The application provides data from a clinical trial of a PSD-95 inhibitor in subjects undergoing endovascular repair of an aneurysm in or otherwise affecting the CNS. The subjects were stratified by whether the aneurysm ruptured before performing the endovascular surgery. Rupture is associated with higher mortality or increased debilitation if a subject survives. The trial provided evidence of significant benefit in subjects with and without aneurysm rupture before endovascular was surgery performed. Surprisingly, the subjects benefitting most from treatment as judged both by pathology and neurocognitive outcome were those in which the aneurysm had ruptured causing a subarachnoid hemorrhage. These data constitute evidence that a PSD-95 inhibitor is beneficial not only in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke but in forms of hemorrhage in or affecting the CNS, particularly, subarachnoid hemorrhage.

A method for detection or monitoring status of silent brain ischemia (SBI) and cerebrovascular health. The assay reagents and methods described herein provide a specific indicator of cerebral microvascular disease, enabling clinicians to identify patients at risk for the development of SBI. A method of treating a subject having silent brain ischemia and/or metabolic syndrome comprises administering to the subject aspirin therapy, blood pressure therapy, body weight management, and/or a program of diet and exercise when levels of two or more SBI markers are elevated. Described herein are molecules that are produced by cerebral endothelial cells exposed to chronic vascular risk factors including obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and glucose intolerance. These stress molecules produced by cerebral endothelial cells are detectable in the serum and serve as diagnostic indicators of brain-specific endothelial cell damage and correlate with MRI indicators of silent stroke and impaired cognitive function.

The invention relates to methods and kits for assessing brain injury, e.g., traumatic brain injury resulting from blast exposure. The invention provides methods of quantifying the amount of phosphorylated tau or total tau in a biological sample. The invention further provides a method of determining the number of blast exposures experienced by a subject. Also provided herein are kits for detecting phosphorylated tau or total tau in a biological sample.

A method of preventing, alleviating or treating traumatic brain injury in an individual comprises administering to the individual a therapeutically effective and physiologically acceptable amount of an agent capable of reducing the amount of one or more aggregated forms of one or more peptides in the brain. An agent capable of reducing the amount of one or more aggregated forms of one or more peptides in the brain is suitable for use in preventing, alleviating or treating traumatic brain injury. A method for predication of the risk of an individual for complications after a traumatic brain injury comprises detecting one or more aggregated forms of one or more peptides prone to aggregate as a result of a traumatic brain injury event, in the brain of the individual, wherein an increased level of such aggregates in the brain indicates an increased risk for complications.

Disclosed herein are methods and systems of determining whether a subject's levels of GFAP, UCH-L1, or GFAP and UCH-L1 are elevated in a sample collected from the subject. The methods comprise determining whether the levels of GFAP, UCH-L1, or GFAP and UCH-L1 are elevated in the sample, and communicating the determination on or from an instrument. The methods may be used to aid in the diagnosis and evaluation of a subject (e.g., a human subject) that has sustained or may have sustained an injury to the head, such as to determine whether the subject is suffering from a mild, moderate, severe, or moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The invention relates to the diagnosis of stroke resulting from occlusion of one or more large vessels in the brain, and in particular to the diagnosis of stroke resulting from occlusion of one or more large vessels in the brain using one or more biomarkers.