Prognostic and diagnostic glycan-based biomarkers of brain damage

1. A method of diagnosing a brain injury in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a sample of a bodily fluid from a subject suspected of having a brain injury, wherein said sample is a urine sample or a saliva sample;

contacting said sample with a lectin array;

determining the level of glycan in said sample bound to at least one lectin in the lectin array;

comparing the determined level of said glycan bound to at least one lectin to a level of said glycan in a sample from a healthy control;

detecting, in the sample from the subject, an elevated level of the glycan bound to at least one lectin compared to the level in the healthy control, wherein the at least one lectin is selected from the group consisting of Galanthus nivalis (GNA), Allium sativum (ASA), Narcissus pseudo narcissus (NPA), Pisum sativum (PSA), Datura stramonium (DSA), Leucoagglutinin (PHA-L), Sambucus nigra (SNA-I) and Hippeastrum hybrid (HHA);

diagnosing the presence of a brain injury in the subject from the elevated level of the glycan bound to the at least one lectin; and

performing at least one neuroimaging procedure selected from the group consisting of x-ray, computerized tomography (CT) scan, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the subject in whom the elevated level of the glycan is detected and the presence of the brain injury is diagnosed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said brain injury is selected from the group consisting of traumatic brain injury (TBI), mild TBI, severe TBI, or acquired brain injury (ABI).

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining further comprises using mass spectrometry, electrophoresis, a chromatographic method, an enzyme assay, a binding assay, or a combination thereof.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said traumatic brain injury is a concussion.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein said determining further comprises using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining further comprises using a reagent selected from the group consisting of a capture reagent, a detection reagent, a secondary detection reagent and a primary detection reagent.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining is carried out by using a kit comprising at least one lectin that selectively binds to glycan in said sample, and a control for comparing to a measured value of binding.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the kit further comprises a detectable label, or a colour, dye, luminescent, or fluorescent agent.