A simple lectin-based biochip might display the potential clinical value of glycomics in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a cerebrovascular disease with extremely high disability and mortality rates. Glycans play critical roles in biological processes. However, whether glycans can serve as potential biomarkers for determining clinical diagnosis and prognosis in ICH remains determined.

Methods: In this study, we established a lectin-biochip to measure serum glycans levels in ICH patients (n=48) and healthy controls (n=16). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to determine serum levels of IL-10 and TNF-α in the patients. Correlation analyses of the serum glycan and cytokine levels and the clinicopathological parameters of patients were performed.

Results: The biochip-based data revealed that the serum levels of α-Man/α-Glc (ConA), Galβ3GalNAc (PNA), GalNAc (VVA), Fucα6GlcNAc (AAL), α-Fuc (LTL), and Galβ3GalNAc-Ser/Thr (AIL) significantly increased in the super-acute phase of ICH in comparison with healthy controls. Clinicopathological analysis indicated the serum levels of ConA, VVA, and LTL had significant associations with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and serum VVA levels had a significant association with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at day 90 after ICH. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed significant correlations between TNF-α and ConA (P<0.001) as well as between IL-10 and ConA (P<0.001), PNA (P=0.02), VVA (P<0.001), and MAL (P=0.04), respectively.

Conclusions: We established a proof-of-concept platform for detecting serum glycomics and highlighted their potential value in diagnosing and predicting ICH patients' outcomes.