Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

Biography

Biography: Diego Gazzolo

Abstract

S100B is a calcium-binding protein brain specific mainly concentrated in glial cells, Schwann cells and in neurons. Among several protein’s functions still matter of investigation S100B has been shown to act as a trophic factor at physiological concentrations (nanomolar) and to be neurotoxic at micromolar concentrations. Elevated S100B concentrations in biological fluids, such as CSF, blood, urine, saliva, amniotic fluid - are regarded as a biomarker of pathological conditions including perinatal brain distress, acute brain injury, brain tumors, neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric disorders. The possibility of measuring the protein in the “so-called” unconventional biological fluids could be especially useful in perinatal medicine that requires even more non-invasive techniques to fulfil the minimal handling diagnostic and therapeutic strategy. To this regard significant information has been acquired through assessments of S100B in different fluids such as urine, saliva, cord blood and more recently in maternal blood of fetuses and newborns at high risk for brain damage. In detail, elevated S100B concentrations in urine and saliva have been detected in fetuses and newborns complicated by chronic/acute hypoxia, by postnatal intraventricular hemorrhage, by short/long-term adverse neurological follow-up, and by the occurrence of early postnatal death. More recently, maternal blood has been investigated based on the hypothesis that in high risk pregnancies, in whom chronic hypoxia and/or adverse conditions occurred, fetal S100B could cross the placenta and could be detectable in the maternal bloodstream. Results showed that S100B assessment can constitute a useful tool to monitor fetal well-being and/or to constitute an early warning of fetal demise.