Quantitative proteomics analysis to identify biomarkers of refractory benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

OBJECTIVE: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is transient vertigo and paroxysmal nystagmus induced by changes in head position. This study was conducted to investigate the differential expression of serum proteins in patients with refractory BPPV and to screen for diagnostic biomarkers. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from patients with BPPV; tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics technology was used to detect and quantify the serum proteins of 30 individuals with refractory BPPV and 30 control volunteers. Bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed proteins was performed using hierarchical clustering, gene ontology annotation, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, and protein-protein interaction network analysis. RESULTS: A total of 769 proteins were identified, and 57 differentially expressed proteins were screened between the two groups; 15 proteins were upregulated, whereas 42 were downregulated. Five differentially expressed proteins were chosen for parallel reaction monitoring analysis to confirm the results. Apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein A-II, apolipoprotein C-III, fibrinogen gamma chain, and fructose-bisphosphate aldolase B were the five potential candidate biomarker proteins. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first quantitative proteomic study to reveal diagnostic biomarkers in patients with BPPV using tandem mass tag labeling technology. The identified differential proteins may improve the understanding of the pathogenesis and molecular mechanism of BPPV. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4.