Pesquisa de biomarcadores e alvos terapêuticos para as meningites por meio da proteômica comparativa do líquor de pacientes

Meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges in response to infection or chemical agents. The meningitis is classified as aseptic (MA) or bacterial (MB). While MA, most frequently caused by enteroviruses, is usually benign and self-limiting course, MB remains associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and intensive care for the maintenance of patient’s vital systems. The fast and accurate diagnosis of meningitis is crucial for decision making to the appropriate therapeutic approach for each meningitis form. In this work, the association of 2D-PAGE with mass spectrometry allowed the identification of host response proteins to bacterial meningitis – pneumococcal and meningococcal, and viral meningitis. Among these proteins, four are potential candidate biomarkers for the differential diagnosis of meningitis and were used to build a qualitative predictive model for this purpose. Sorting absence / presence of specific proteins in the host response in each pathological condition became possible to differentiate pneumococcal, meningococcal, viral meningitis those individuals without central nervous system infection. The discovery of this novel qualitative predictive model is the beginning step for generation of a fast kit for differential meningitis diagnosis. It could provide individualized therapy according to the causative etiological agent of illness, once the effective treatment remains the best choice for lower permanent sequelae and mortality due to bacterial meningitis. Furthermore, were identified, by bioinformatics, the main metabolic and signaling pathways most affected by each meningitis form, which enabled the selection of novel candidate therapeutic targets for meningitis.