Elucidating novel serum biomarkers associated with pulmonary tuberculosis treatment

PLoS One. 2013 Apr 18;8(4):e61002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061002. Print 2013.

Abstract

In an unbiased approach to biomarker discovery, we applied a highly multiplexed proteomic technology (SOMAscan, SomaLogic, Inc, Boulder, CO) to understand changes in proteins from paired serum samples at enrollment and after 8 weeks of TB treatment from 39 patients with pulmonary TB from Kampala, Uganda enrolled in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC) Study 29. This work represents the first large-scale proteomic analysis employing modified DNA aptamers in a study of active tuberculosis (TB). We identified multiple proteins that exhibit significant expression differences during the intensive phase of TB therapy. There was enrichment for proteins in conserved networks of biological processes and function including antimicrobial defense, tissue healing and remodeling, acute phase response, pattern recognition, protease/anti-proteases, complement and coagulation cascade, apoptosis, immunity and inflammation pathways. Members of cytokine pathways such as interferon-gamma, while present, were not as highly represented as might have been predicted. The top proteins that changed between baseline and 8 weeks of therapy were TSP4, TIMP-2, SEPR, MRC-2, Antithrombin III, SAA, CRP, NPS-PLA2, LEAP-1, and LBP. The novel proteins elucidated in this work may provide new insights for understanding TB disease, its treatment and subsequent healing processes that occur in response to effective therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biomarkers / blood*
  • C-Reactive Protein / metabolism
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phospholipases A2 / blood
  • Proteomics
  • Serum Amyloid A Protein / metabolism
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / therapy*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Serum Amyloid A Protein
  • C-Reactive Protein
  • Phospholipases A2

Grants and funding

The entire sample analysis was funded by SomaLogic, Inc. Funding for recruitment, enrollment and clinical and laboratory follow-up of TBTC Study 29 patients was provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SomaLogic had no role in study design or patient selection, but conducted the assay and data analysis. SomaLogic decided what and when to publish, and prepared the manuscript with input from the co-authors listed.