Neuron-specific enolase

There are many common diseases in life. We need good methods to treat them. If we want to treat our own diseases well, we need to understand them. Diseases are divided into internal medicine, gynecology, surgery, and neurology. These subjects are very different in terms of diseases. When treating them, the methods are also different. So what is neuron-specific enolase?

Many people don’t know much about neuron-specific enolase, and don’t know what to do when it becomes abnormal. This requires a good understanding of neuron-specific enolase so that they know what to do when it becomes abnormal.

Neuron-specific Enolase:

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a type of enolase involved in the glycolysis pathway and is present in neural and neuroendocrine tissues. NSE has the highest activity in brain tissue cells, with intermediate activity levels in peripheral nerves and neurosecretory tissues, and the lowest values ​​are found in non-neural tissues, serum and cerebrospinal fluid. It has been found that excessive NSE expression is found in tumors related to neuroendocrine tissue origin, especially in SCLC, resulting in a significant increase in serum NSE.

Clinical significance of neuron-specific enolase:

(1) Serum NSE levels are significantly elevated in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), with 60-81% of SCLC cases having elevated NSE levels. Although NSE concentrations did not correlate with metastatic sites or brain metastases, they correlated well with clinical stages such as disease progression. The diagnostic sensitivity of NSE is 80%, and the specificity is 80% to 90%. However, there is no significant increase in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), so it can be used for the differential diagnosis of SCLC and NSCLC. Serum NSE level is positively correlated with the clinical stage of SCLC. Therefore, serum NSE detection has important clinical value in monitoring the condition, evaluating the therapeutic effect and predicting the recurrence of SCLC.

(2) In neuroblastoma, the NSE positivity rate can reach 96% to 100%, and its measured value is significantly increased. The serum NSE level is related to the disease stage and prognosis. The determination of serum NSE has a high clinical value in the early diagnosis and prognosis of this type of tumor.

(3) Elevated serum NSE can also be seen in a few cases of NSCLC, medullary thyroid carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, metastatic seminoma, melanoma, pancreatic endocrine tumors, etc.

Clinical medical research shows that neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a molecular marker with great clinical application value. This is reviewed from two aspects of application. First, NSE can be used as a tumor marker for lung cancer and childhood neuroblastoma, and for the differential diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); to monitor the condition, treatment response and prevent recurrence of small cell lung cancer and neuroblastoma. Second, changes in NSE activity are closely related to many neurological diseases caused by nerve damage.

Through the above introduction, we have an understanding of what neuron-specific enolase is. Therefore, when there is a problem with it, we can judge the problem of the human body. Its existence also has its own significance, so don’t be afraid of it. During the physical examination, if there is any abnormality, there will be some introduction.