Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37340737›Full record

ArticleAnnals of clinical and translational neurology2023

CSF neopterin and quinolinic acid are biomarkers of neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity in FIRES and other infection-triggered encephalopathy syndromes.

Russell C Dale, Terrence Thomas, Shrujna Patel, Velda X Han, Kavitha Kothur, Christopher Troedson, Sachin Gupta, Deepak Gill, Stephen Malone, Michaela Waak and 9 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. [Clinical features and prognosis of influenza-associated encephalopathy in children].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2026
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  15. Development of a Novel Method to Quantify Quinolinic Acid in Biological Samples.International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Russell C DaleKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2495-1826
Terrence ThomasDepartment of Paediatrics, Neurology Service, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
Shrujna PatelKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Velda X HanKhoo Teck Puat-National University Children's Medical Institute, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
Kavitha KothurKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Christopher TroedsonTY Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, The University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Sachin GuptaTY Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, The University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Deepak GillKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Stephen MaloneDepartment of Neuroscience, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Michaela WaakDepartment of Neuroscience, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Sophie CalvertDepartment of Neuroscience, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Gopinath SubramanianDepartment of Paediatrics, John Hunter Children's Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
P Ian AndrewsDepartment of Neurology, Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Tejaswi KandulaDepartment of Neurology, Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Manoj P MenezesKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Simone Ardern-HolmesTY Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, The University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Shekeeb MohammadKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Sushil BandodkarClinical School, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Jingya YanKids Neuroscience Centre, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
The University of Sydney · AUChildren's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service · AUSydney Children’s Hospitals Network · AUJohn Hunter Children's Hospital · AUKK Women's and Children's Hospital · SGNational University Health System · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveInfection-triggered encephalopathy syndromes (ITES) are potentially devastating neuroinflammatory conditions. Although some ITES syndromes have recognisable MRI neuroimaging phenotypes, there are otherwise few biomarkers of disease. Early detection to enable immune modulatory treatments could improve outcomes.

methodsWe measured CSF neopterin, quinolinic acid, kynurenine and kynurenine/tryptophan ratio using a liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) system. The CSF of 18 children with ITES were compared with acute encephalitis (n = 20), and three control groups, namely epilepsy (n = 20), status epilepticus (n = 18) and neurogenetic controls (n = 20).

resultsThe main ITES phenotypes in 18 patients were acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late restricted diffusion (AESD, n = 4), febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES n = 4) and other ITES phenotypes. Influenza A was the most common infectious trigger (n = 5), and 50% of patients had a preceding notable neurodevelopmental or family history. CSF neopterin, quinolinic acid and kynurenine were elevated in ITES group compared to the three control groups (all p < 0.0002). The ROC (area under curve) for CSF neopterin (99.3%, CI 98.1-100) was significantly better than CSF pleocytosis (87.3% CI 76.4-98.2) (p = 0.028). Elevated CSF neopterin could discriminate ITES from other causes of seizures, status epilepticus and febrile status epilepticus (all p < 0.0002). The elevated CSF metabolites normalised during longitudinal testing in two patients with FIRES.

interpretationCSF neopterin and quinolinic acid are neuroinflammatory and excitotoxic metabolites. This CSF metabolomic inflammatory panel can discriminate ITES from other causes of new onset seizures or status epilepticus, and rapid results (4 h) may facilitate early immune modulatory therapy.

Indexed as

Brain DiseasesEncephalitisStatus EpilepticusBiomarkersChromatography, LiquidHumansKynurenineNeopterinNeuroinflammatory DiseasesQuinolinic AcidSeizuresSyndromeTandem Mass SpectrometryBiomarkersKynurenineNeopterinQuinolinic Acid

Identifiers

PMID37340737
PMCPMC10424664
OpenAlexW4381470092

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.