Cerebrospinal fluid Flt3 ligand level in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
The Flt3 ligand (FL) is a cytokine with a neurotrophic and antiapoptotic activity in the central nervous system that induces the survival of neurons. The aim of the study was to measure levels of FL in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.


METHODS
The study involved 23 ALS patients and 23 people in the control group. The measurement of FL in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum was performed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent method.


RESULTS
Results showed that CSF FL levels were significantly increased in ALS patients compared with the controls (P < 0.05) but the serum levels of this cytokine did not differ from the controls (P > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between CSF and serum FL levels and clinical parameters of ALS (P > 0.05). The difference in CSF/serum ratio of FL between ALS patients and controls was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
An increase in CSF FL levels in ALS patients, observed in this study, could be a compensative response for neurodegeneration but may also reflect increased diffusion of this cytokine into the central nervous system caused by blood-CSF barrier dysfunction.
Iłzecka
J
J
Department of Neurology, Medical University, Lublin, Poland. ilzecka@onet.pl
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D008565:Membrane Proteins; C084881:flt3 ligand protein