Quantitative Serum Proteomic Study Reveals that Fibrinogen-Related Proteins May Participate in the Pathophysiological Process of Simple Febrile Convulsion

Simple febrile convulsion (SFC) is a common disease that is mainly caused by fever from extracranial infections. In this study, we used proteomic approaches involving discovery and validation cohorts to examine the proteomes of serum from children who were diagnosed with SFC, children with fever but without convulsion, and healthy children (normal controls). We identified 86 proteins involved in different biological pathways that were significantly different between the SFC and normal control groups. Of these 86 proteins, 35 had higher expression in the SFC group compared with the normal control group, whereas 51 had lower expression. Notably, fibrinogen-related proteins involved in the coagulation system pathway were markedly decreased in the SFC group. Targeted and absolute quantification of fibrinogen-related proteins was performed and validated the potential of these proteins as biomarkers. Thus, fibrinogen-related proteins may participate in the pathophysiological process of SFC and may be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of SFC.