title: Glial fibrillary acidic protein as a marker of astrocytic activation in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has been shown to be increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients suffering from neurological diseases involving the activation of astrocytes, but has not been studied in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients to our knowledge. CSF samples of patients with definite ALS and of those with other neurological diseases were evaluated for their GFAP concentrations. CSF-GFAP concentrations of patients with ALS were significantly elevated by 53% compared to patients with other neurologic diseases. GFAP might serve as a biomarker in ALS. Our findings support the concept that astrocytes play a role in ALS pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva 49100, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Felsenstein Medical Research Institut, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: felixbenninger@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Benninger
authors.affiliation: Felsenstein Medical Research Institut, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Micaela J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Glat
authors.affiliation: Felsenstein Medical Research Institut, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Offen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva 49100, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Steiner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Astrocytes; Biomarker; GFAP; Motor neuron disease