title: Abnormalities in CSF concentrations of ferritin and transferrin in restless legs syndrome.
abstract: CSF and serum were obtained from 16 patients with idiopathic restless legs syndrome (RLS) and 8 age-matched healthy control subjects. Patients with RLS had lower CSF ferritin levels (1. 11 +/- 0.25 ng/mL versus 3.50 +/- 0.55 ng/mL; p = 0.0002) and higher CSF transferrin levels (26.4 +/- 5.1 mg/L versus 6.71 +/- 1.6 mg/L; p = 0.018) compared with control subjects. There was no difference in serum ferritin and transferrin levels between groups. The presence of reduced ferritin and elevated transferrin levels in CSF is indicative of low brain iron in patients with idiopathic RLS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Earley
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Connor
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Malecki
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D014168:Transferrin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014168:Transferrin; D005293:Ferritins