Plasma alpha B crystallin as potential biomarker for predicting pre-operative seizures in glioma

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Glioma-associated epilepsy affects a significant proportion of glioma patients, contributing to disease progression and diminished survival rates. However, the lack of a reliable preoperative seizure predictor hampers effective surgical planning. This study investigates the potential of Alpha B crystallin protein (CRYAB) plasma levels as a predictive biomarker for epilepsy seizures in glioma patients. Methods Plasma samples were obtained from 75 participants, including 21 glioma patients with pre-operative epilepsy, 14 glioma patients without pre-operative epilepsy, and 21 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Additionally, 11 idiopathic epilepsy patients and 8 intractable epilepsy patients served as positive disease control groups. The study utilized ELISA to accurately quantify the circulating levels of CRYAB in the plasma samples of all participants. Results The analysis revealed a significant reduction in plasma CRYAB levels in glioma patients with pre-operative epilepsy and idiopathic epilepsy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis displayed an impressive performance, indicating an AUC of 0.863 (95% CI, 0.810–0.916) across the entire patient cohort. Furthermore, plasma CRYAB levels exhibited a robust diagnostic capability, with an AUC of 0.9135, a sensitivity of 100.0%, and a specificity of 73.68%, effectively distinguishing glioma patients with preoperative epilepsy from those without epilepsy. The Decision Curve Analysis (DCA) underscored the clinical relevance of plasma CRYAB levels in predicting pre-operative epilepsy in glioma. Conclusion The findings imply that the reduced levels of CRYAB may assist in prediction of seizure occurrence in glioma patients, although future large-scale prospective studies are warranted.