Complement C3 as a marker for blood-brain barrier leakage after burn injury.
Blood complement C3 accurately detects post-burn blood-brain barrier disruption.
Complement C3 as a marker for blood-brain barrier leakage after burn injury.
Burns can lead to blood-brain barrier (blood-brain barrier) disruption, triggering severe neurological complications.
This study aimed to identify a peripheral blood biomarker for detecting post-burn blood-brain barrier disruption and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms driving this endothelial dysfunction.
Mass spectrometry and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) techniques were employed to screen potential circulating biomarkers.
high accuracy for flagging barrier breakdown, with zero false alarms
Proteomic analysis identified complement C3 as a highly specific rule-in biomarker for detecting post-burn blood-brain barrier disruption.
Mechanistically, activation of the C3a/C3aR axis promoted mitochondrial dysfunction and maladaptive mitophagy in endothelial cells, leading to compromised blood-brain barrier integrity, enhanced neuroinflammation, and cognitive impairment.
Peripheral blood C3 serves as a highly specific biomarker for the early risk stratification of burn-induced cortical blood-brain barrier disruption.
Furthermore, the C3a/C3aR-mediated maladaptive mitophagy pathway drives this endothelial injury, offering novel targets for timely clinical intervention.