Patent ID: 7718394

Claim:
A method of detecting chronic neuroinflammation of the brain in a subject comprising: A) detecting an encephalotoxin in a biological sample of said subject using a bioassay comprising: 1) contacting said biological sample of said subject with neurons in vitro, and 2) comparing neuron survival in the presence of said biological sample to encephalotoxin inactivator-treated biological sample, wherein a decrease in neuron survival in the absence of said encephalotoxin inactivator treatment relative to the encephalotoxin inactivator-treated biological sample is indicative of the presence of an encephalotoxin, wherein the encephalotoxin is an oligosaccharide comprising at least one glucosamine having N-sulfation and O6-sulfation, and said encephalotoxin lacks peptide bonds; and wherein the encephalotoxin inactivator is heparin lyase I, N-sulfaminidase, glucosamine-6-sulfatase, or a nitrous acid solution; and B) determining a neurotoxicity index of cerebral spinal fluid of said subject, wherein the neurotoxicity index is a calculated value determined from the bioassay described above and is the equivalent to the volume in microliters of biological sample necessary to result in 50% killing of neurons in the absence of encephalotoxin inactivator, and wherein a neurotoxicity index of less than 100 is indicative of said neuroinflammation at a level associated with clinical diagnosis of disease, and wherein the presence of encephalotoxin in said cerebral spinal fluid is indicative of neurological disease or risk for loss of cognition.