Plasma Neuron-Specifc Enolase is not a reliable biomarker for staging Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness patients
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Research Notes
Abstract
Currently, the only available staging criterion for T. b. rhodesiense requires a lumber puncture to collect and later examine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This study examined the potential of plasma Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE) in discriminating between early and late-stage patients. When median NSE levels were compared between early and late-stage patients, results showed a significant (P < 0.02) upregulation among late-stage patients (599.8 ng/mL). No significant differences (P > 0.9) in NSE levels were observed between early-stage patients (300 ng/mL) and controls (454 ng/mL). We used Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves to explore the likelihood of using plasma NSE as a potential stage biomarker in discriminating between early and late-stage HAT patients. Our results showed that NSE demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.702 (95% CI 0.583–0.830). A high staging accuracy for NSE was obtained by using a cutoff of > 346.5 ng/mL with a sensitivity of 68.6% (95% CI 55–79.7%) and a specificity of 93.3% (95% CI 70.2–99.7%). Although our results demonstrate that plasma NSE is upregulated in T. b. rhodesiense sleeping sickness patients, its value in discriminating between late and early-stage patients is limited. However, future studies could consider improving its specificity by combining it with other identified plasma biomarkers.
Description
Keywords
Plasma Neuron-Specific Enolase, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness, patients
Citation
Kato, C. D., Twesigye, D., Alibu, V. P., Nanteza, A., Nsubuga, J., Mugasa, C. M., & Matovu, E. (2022). Plasma Neuron-Specific Enolase is not a reliable biomarker for staging Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness patients. BMC Research Notes, 15(1), 97.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-022-05981-w