title: Increased levels of MIP-1α in CSF and serum of ALS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with complicated pathogenesis. No effective diagnostic test and cure exists for the disease at present. We detected the levels of MIP-1α in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum and then further evaluated whether MIP-1α levels correlate with the severity and progression of ALS.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used ELISAs to detect MIP-1α levels from 58 patients with ALS and 45 age- and gender-matched controls. The patients with ALS were also clinically evaluated with the revised ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-r). Moreover, we followed up with 40 cases of ALS by way of call or clinic visit 4 years after enrollment in this study. Finally, we assessed the correlations between MIP-1α levels and various clinical parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the levels of MIP-1α in patients with ALS significantly increased compared to controls and they were positively correlated with duration. MIP-1α showed negative correlations with disease progression rate and the decrease in ALSFRS-r. Furthermore, the cumulative survival of patients with ALS with high levels of MIP-1α exceeded patients with low MIP-1α levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MIP-1α levels increased in both CSF and serum of patients with ALS, and it may be a potential neuroprotective biomarker in ALS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C114015:MNP-1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: MIP-1α; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; biomarker; chemokine