title: bFGF in the CSF and serum of sALS patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective motor neuron loss in the brain and spinal cord. The cause of this selective death of motor neurons is still unclear, but among several pathomechanisms that have been discussed, the loss of neurotrophic factors is one hypothesis. Basic fibroblast growth factor 2 (bFGF) may be a potential neurotrophic factor for slowing various neurodegenerative diseases, but its potential role in the prognosis of ALS is not known.
  
  
  METHODS
  To explore the role of bFGF in ALS, we investigated changes in bFGF in the CSF and serum from patients with sALS and from the control group. Furthermore, we analyzed the correlations between bFGF, disease duration, disease progression rate, ALSFRS-r score and survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The level of bFGF increased in both the CSF and serum in sALS patients. It was higher in patients with longer durations. It was negatively correlated with disease progression rates, especially in the later stages of sALS, but showed no linear correlation with ALSFRS-r. In an analysis of the relationship between bFGF and survival, we found that sALS patients with high levels of bFGF had significantly higher cumulative survival rates than patients with low levels of bFGF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, endogenous bFGF increased both in the CSF and serum of sALS patients and it may be a useful biomarker that could predict disease progression and survival.
authors: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors: Z
authors: Z
authors: Gong
authors: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Gao
authors: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Guo
authors: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Zang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000401:mortality; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2
keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; bFGF; disease progression; survival