title: Increased cerebrospinal fluid tau protein in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Axonal damage is now being recognized as a common finding in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions and a cause of irreversible neurological damage. Attempts to identify markers of early axonal damage are of great significance. This prompted us to examine the microtubule-associated protein tau in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with MS vs. controls. Tau was measured by double antibody sandwich ELISA. Increased CSF tau levels were found in MS as compared to controls (medians 249.6 and 135 pg/ml respectively, p<0.001). Half of the MS patients presented with levels above the upper limit of the controls. A significant increase vs. controls was found in both relapsing-remitting and progressive subtypes. These data may indicate axonal impairment in a subpopulation of MS patients and may provide a tool for the estimation of axonal damage during life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical School, University of Athens, 'Aeginition' Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kapaki
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Paraskevas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michalopoulou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kilidireas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D020528:Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D012016:Reference Values; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D016875:tau Proteins