Patent Application

App. No. 11/737,561

Abstract

Claims (25)

1 . A method for predicting outcome for a subject suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) comprising the steps of;

(a) obtaining a sample of body fluid from said subject;

(b) contacting said sample of body fluid with at least one antibody that specifically binds a β subunit of S-100 protein, wherein at least one antibody is immobilized on a solid support; and

(c) determining binding of at least one antibody to said β subunit of S-100 protein in said sample of body fluid wherein a level of said β subunit of S-100 protein elevated above 39 pg/mL predicts outcome for a subject suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI).

2 . The method as in claim 1 wherein said bound antibody specifically binds the β subunit in ββ and αβ isoforms of S-100 protein.

3 . The method as in claim 1 wherein said sample of body fluid is selected from the group consisting of serum, plasma, urine, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

4 . The method as in claim 1 wherein said steps of contacting and determining are carried out by immunoassay.

5 . The method as in claim 4 wherein said immunoassay is a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

6 . A method for confirming the existence of brain injury in a subject by correlating a level of myelin basic protein (MBP) in a body fluid of said subject with results of a computer-assisted tomographic (CT) scan comprising the steps of;

(a) performing a CT scan on said subject;

(b) determining a result by observing pictures produced by said CT scan, wherein evidence of an abnormality in said pictures categorizes said subject as CT-positive;

(c) obtaining a sample of body fluid from said subject;

(d) contacting said sample of body fluid with at least one antibody that binds myelin basic protein (MBP), wherein at least one antibody is immobilized on a solid support; and

(e) determining binding of at least one antibody to said myelin basic protein (MBP) in said sample of body fluid wherein a level of said myelin basic protein (MBP) elevated above 76 pg/mL correlates with results of said CT scan thereby confirming the existence of brain injury in said subject.

7 . The method as in claim 6 wherein said sample of body fluid is selected from the group consisting of serum, plasma, urine, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

8 . The method as in claim 6 wherein said steps of contacting and determining of step (e) are carried out by an immunoassay.

9 . The method as in claim 8 wherein said immunoassay is a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

10 . A method as in claim 6 wherein said abnormality of step (b) is selected from the group consisting of subdural hematoma (SDH), epidural hematoma (EDH), subarachnoid hematoma (SAH), cerebral contusion and diffuse axonal injury (DAI).

11 . A method for determining whether a subject suspected of having symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) should be referred for a computer-assisted tomographic (CT) scan comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a sample of body fluid from said subject;

(b) contacting said sample of body fluid with at least one antibody that binds myelin basic protein (MBP), wherein at least one antibody is immobilized on a solid support; and

(c) determining binding of at least one antibody to said myelin basic protein (MBP) in said sample of body fluid wherein a level of said myelin basic protein (MBP) elevated above 76 pg/mL determines that said subject should be referred for a computer-assisted tomographic (CT) scan.

12 . The method as in claim 11 wherein said sample of body fluid is selected from the group consisting of serum, plasma, urine, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

13 . The method as in claim 11 wherein said steps of contacting and determining are carried out by an immunoassay.

14 . The method as in claim 13 wherein said immunoassay is a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Assignments (9)