title: Tau protein concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is clinically characterized by the acute onset of neurological symptoms after a viral infection or immunization, and is thought to represent an autoimmune disease directed against myelin. Tau protein is a phosphorylated microtubule-associated protein, primarily located in neuronal axons. Increased levels of tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are found in various pathological conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used tau protein as a marker of axonal damage and examined its concentration in the CSF of 27 children with ADEM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CSF tau protein concentration in children with ADEM was significantly higher than that in the CSF of control subjects (P=0.008). There were no significant differences in CSF tau protein concentrations in the ADEM patients with and without encephalopathy. The CSF tau protein concentration in patients with partial lesion resolution in follow-up brain MRI was significantly higher than in patients with complete lesion resolution (P=0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, we demonstrated that CSF tau protein concentration was significantly increased in ADEM patients. Our findings suggest that axonal damage may occur in addition to demyelination in children with ADEM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address: momokonishioka@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Momoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsushige
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kajimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tsuzumigaura Handicapped Children's Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tsuzumigaura Handicapped Children's Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichiyama
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004673:Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D016875:tau Proteins
keywords: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis; Axonal damage; Tau protein