Decreased urinary concentrations of type IV collagen in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
Type IV collagen (IV-C) abnormalities of skin and serum have been reported in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, there has been no study of urinary IV-C in ALS. The present study investigates urinary IV-C and the relation to its skin content in patients with ALS.


METHODS
We studied IV-C immunoreactivity of skin and measured urinary levels of IV-C in ALS patients and controls.


RESULTS
The basement membrane as well as blood vessels of skin in ALS patients was weakly positive for IV-C as compared with those of controls. Immunostaining became even weaker as ALS progressed. The urinary level of IV-C in ALS patients was significantly decreased as compared to diseased controls (P<0.001) and healthy controls (P<0.001), and was negatively and significantly associated with duration of symptoms (r=-0.85, P<0.001). There was an appreciable positive correlation between urinary IV-C levels and the density for IV-C immunoreactivity in ALS patients (r=0.84, P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that a metabolic alteration of IV-C may occur in ALS patients and decreased levels of urinary IV-C may be related to the decreased IV-C immunoreactivity of skin in ALS.
Ono
S
S
Department of Neurology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Ichihara Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
Imai
T
T
Matsubara
S
S
Takahashi
K
K
Jinnai
K
K
Yamano
T
T
Shimizu
N
N
D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine; D001706:Biopsy; D003094:Collagen / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012016:Reference Values; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology
D003094:Collagen