title: The N-terminal domain of α-dystroglycan, released as a 38 kDa protein, is increased in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis.
abstract: α-Dystroglycan is an extracellular adhesion protein that is known to interact with different ligands. The interaction is thought to stabilize the integrity of the plasma membrane. The N-terminal part of α-dystroglycan may be proteolytically processed to generate a small 38 kDa protein (α-DG-N). The physiological significance of α-DG-N is unclear but has been suggested to be involved in nerve regeneration and myelination and to function as a potential biomarker for neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. In this report we show that α-DG-N is released into different body fluids, such as lachrimal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), urine and plasma. To investigate the significance of α-DG-N in CSF we examined the levels of α-DG-N and known neurodegenerative markers in CSF from patients diagnosed with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) and healthy controls. In untreated acute phase LNB patients, 67% showed a significant increase of CSF α-DG-N compared to healthy controls. After treatment with antibiotics the CSF α-DG-N levels were normalized in the LNB patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Clinical Chemistry and Transfusion Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hesse
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bremell
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Andreasson
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halim
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anckarsäter
authors.forename: Kaj
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blennow
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Anckarsäter
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zetterberg
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagberg
authors.forename: Ammi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D049030:Dystroglycans / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020852:Lyme Neuroborreliosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D049030:Dystroglycans