title: Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament and glial fibrillary acidic protein in patients with cerebral vasculitis.
abstract: Few diseases in clinical medicine cause as much diagnostic consternation as central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis because of its varying modes of presentation and frequently overlapping clinical and pathological features. There are no pathognomonic clinical or laboratory findings. The purpose of the present retrospective study was to validate the use of the light subunit of neurofilament triplet protein (NFL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as markers of CNS tissue damage for patients with systemic or isolated CNS vasculitis. Levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NFL and GFAP were measured using ELISAs. Both CSF NFL and CSF GFAP concentrations were significantly higher in a patient group diagnosed with CNS vasculitis (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively) than in a patient group for whom CNS vasculitis was excluded. In the future, analysis of CSF NFL in particular, but also GFAP, may be a useful complement in the difficult clinical task of diagnosing CNS vasculitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrens University Hospital, University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden. karin.nylen@neuro.gu.se
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nylén
authors.forename: J-E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blomstrand
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarkowski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trysberg
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Rosengren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020293:Vasculitis, Central Nervous System / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins