title: Cerebrospinal Fluid Inflammatory Biomarkers Reflect Clinical Severity in Huntington's Disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immune system activation is involved in Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis and biomarkers for this process could be relevant to study the disease and characterise the therapeutic response to specific interventions. We aimed to study inflammatory cytokines and microglial markers in the CSF of HD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  CSF TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, YKL-40, chitotriosidase, total tau and neurofilament light chain (NFL) from 23 mutation carriers and 14 healthy controls were assayed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CSF TNF-α and IL-1β were below the limit of detection. Mutation carriers had higher YKL-40 (p = 0.003), chitotriosidase (p = 0.015) and IL-6 (p = 0.041) than controls. YKL-40 significantly correlated with disease stage (p = 0.007), UHDRS total functional capacity score (r = -0.46, p = 0.016), and UHDRS total motor score (r = 0.59, p = 4.5*10-4) after adjustment for age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  YKL-40 levels in CSF may, after further study, come to have a role as biomarkers for some aspects of HD. Further investigation is needed to support our exploratory findings.
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Filipe Brogueira
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5567-7938
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McColgan
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sarah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.|Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zetterberg
authors.affiliation: Huntington's Disease Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wild