Biomarker

A biomarker, or biological marker, is in general a substance used as an indicator of a biological state. It is a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. It is used in many scientific fields. In medicine, a biomarker can be a substance that is introduced into an organism as a means to examine organ function or other aspects of health. For example, rubidium chloride is used as a radioactive isotope to evaluate perfusion of heart muscle. It can also be a substance whose detection indicates a particular disease state, for example, the presence of an antibody may indicate an infection. More specifically, a biomarker indicates a change in expression or state of a protein that correlates with the risk or progression of a disease, or with the sun the fields of geology and astrobiology, biomarkers are also known as biosignatures. The term biomarker is also used to describe biological involvement insceptibility of the disease to a given treatment.A biomarker can be any kind of molecule indicating the existence, past or present, of living organisms. I the generation of petroleum.A biomarker can also be used to indicate exposure to various environmental substances in epidemiology and toxicology. In these cases, the biomarker may be the external substance itself (e.g. asbestos particles or NNK from tobacco), or a variant of the external substance processed by the body. In genetics, a biomarker (identified as genetic marker) is a fragment of DNA sequence that causes disease or is associated with susceptibility to disease.

Further information:

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3.   Mathsson L, Mullazehi M, Wick MC, Sjöberg O, van Vollenhoven R, Klareskog L, Rönnelid J. "Antibodies against citrullinated vimentin in rheumatoid arthritis: higher sensitivity and extended prognostic value concerning future radiographic progression as compared with antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides.". Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Jan;58(1):36-45.
4.  Craig-Schapiro R, Fagan AM, Holtzman DM. "Biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease". Neurobiol Dis. 2008 Oct 28.
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6. Article   Biomarker from Wikipedia, the Free Enciclopedia. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.

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