Brain Perihematoma Genomic Profile Following Spontaneous Human Intracerebral Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) represents about 15% of all strokes and is associated with high mortality rates. Our aim was to identify the gene expression changes and biological pathways altered in the brain following ICH. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Twelve brain samples were obtained from four deceased patients who suffered an ICH including perihematomal tissue (PH) and the corresponding contralateral white (CW) and grey (CG) matter. Affymetrix GeneChip platform for analysis of over 47,000 transcripts was conducted. Microarray Analysis Suite 5.0 was used to process array images and the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis System was used to analyze biological mechanisms and functions of the genes. We identified 468 genes in the PH areas displaying a different expression pattern with a fold change between −3.74 and +5.16 when compared to the contralateral areas (291 overexpressed and 177 underexpressed). The top genes which appeared most significantly overexpressed in the PH areas codify for cytokines, chemokines, coagulation factors, cell growth and proliferation factors while the underexpressed codify for proteins involved in cell cycle or neurotrophins. Validation and replication studies at gene and protein level in brain samples confirmed microarray results. CONCLUSIONS: The genomic responses identified in this study provide valuable information about potential biomarkers and target molecules altered in the perihematomal regions.