Novel Autoantibody Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Veterans with Gulf War Illness
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to develop objective peripheral biomarkers for Gulf War Illness (GWI). We plan to determine circulating autoantibodies to ten proteins associated with the central nervous system in sera and plasma from a group of 250 Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI) and from 200 controls (100 healthy GW controls, 100 disease controls). Preliminary results using Western blot assay showed increased levels of autoantibodies in GWI cases compared to symptomatic controls in the following descending order: CaMKII >GFAP > Tau > Tubulin > MAG > MAP-2 > MBP > NFP > S100B ranging from 2-8 fold higher. These results confirm the continuing presence of autoantibodies against neuronal /gliosis in these veterans and are in agreement with recent reports indicating that 25 years after the war, the health of veterans with GWI is not improving and maybe getting worse. Such blood-based autoantibodies may prove useful as biomarkers of GWI, upon validation of the findings using larger cohorts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1028765
Entities
People
- Mohamed B. Abou-donia
Organizations
- Duke University Hospital