Currently, most unruptured brain aneurysms are detected incidentally by brain imaging done
for other reasons. However, due to its potential risks and high cost, imaging is not suitable for
screening the general public. Even for high-risk individuals, such as those with a family history of
brain aneurysm, experts debate whether imaging is cost effective. Consequently, there is great
interest in finding noninvasive and inexpensive strategies, such as blood testing, to look for
diagnostic biomarkers of brain aneurysms.
Examining neutrophils
In their exploratory study, Drs. Meng and Tutino examined circulating neutrophils in subjects’ blood
to determine whether they carry RNA expression signatures, or biomarkers, of brain aneurysms.
They examined neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection, as these cells
respond to the persistent inflammation caused by aneurysms.
The researchers gathered blood samples from “matched” subjects (people with similar
demographics and health status) with and without a brain aneurysm, as determined by
angiography, and compared their circulating neutrophils. Using sophisticated RNA-sequencing and
bioinformatics techniques, they identified a brain aneurysm-associated RNA expression signature
that was able to separate patients with and without aneurysms. A separate study in a smaller group
of unmatched patients found that this signature was able to distinguish nine out of 10 patients with
brain aneurysms.
While these findings are preliminary and need to be validated in larger, more diverse groups of
subjects, they highlight a potential for developing informative biomarkers from blood samples to
identify patients with brain aneurysms. Ultimately, Drs. Meng’s and Tutino’s vision is to develop a
pre-screen blood test to identify at-risk individuals who would benefit the most from diagnostic
brain imaging, thereby making imaging cost effective.
Citation: Tutino VM, Poppenberg KE, Jiang K, Jarvis JN, Sun Y, Sonig A, Siddiqui AH, Snyder KV,
Levy EI, Kolega J, Meng H: Circulating Neutrophil Transcriptome May Reveal Intracranial Aneurysm
Signature. PLoS One 13(1):e0191407 (epub January 17, 2018 DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0191407).PMID
29342213.
Save the Date:
Annual Research Symposium
Mark your calendar for September 20, the date of the
12th annual Brain Aneurysm Foundation Research Grant
Symposium. This year’s symposium, which will be sponsored
by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC),
will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Renaissance
Pittsburgh Hotel. At the event, which includes a daytime
program, cocktails, and dinner, recipients of the 2018 BAF
research grants will be announced. To date, the BAF has
distributed more than $2.1 million in research grants.
B R AIN ANEU RYSM FOU NDATION | SU M M E R 201 8 | BAFOU ND.ORG
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