• Kazumasa Takahashi, Shunji Hasegawa, Shinji Maeba, Shinnosuke Fukunaga, Masashi Motoyama, Hiroki Hamano, and Takashi Ichiyama.
• Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan. Electronic address: peizaemon@gmail.com.
• Brain Dev. 2014 Sep 1; 36 (8): 670-5.

BackgroundTau protein is a microtubule-associated protein that is present in axons. Elevated tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid or serum are associated with several central nervous system diseases and can indicate neuronal injury.ObjectiveIn the present study, we measured and then compared serum tau protein levels between infants with neonatal asphyxia and control subjects. We examined these data to investigate the correlation between serum tau protein levels and neurological outcomes after neonatal asphyxia.Patients And MethodsSerum tau protein levels were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 19 neonates with neonatal asphyxia. Of these 19 neonates, 3 had severe spastic tetraplegia, and 1 had west syndrome. A group of 19 unaffected neonates was included in the study as a control group.ResultsSerum tau protein levels on postnatal day 3 were significantly higher in the poor outcome group than those in the good outcome (p=0.010) and control groups (p=0.006). On postnatal day 7, serum tau protein levels again were significantly higher in the poor outcome group than those in the good outcome (p=0.007) and control groups (p=0.006).ConclusionsThe present findings indicate serum tau protein levels measured on postnatal days 3 and 7 can predict neurological prognosis following neonatal asphyxia.Copyright © 2014 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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