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β‐Trace protein in cerebrospinal fluid: A blood–CSF barrier–related evaluation in neurological diseases
Author(s) -
Tumanin Hayrettin,
Nau Roland,
Felgenhauer Klaus
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410440606
Subject(s) - cerebrospinal fluid , csf albumin , albumin , multiple sclerosis , meningitis , medicine , beta (programming language) , chemistry , immunology , pathology , surgery , computer science , programming language
β‐Trace protein concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from 113 patients with variuos neurological diseases and 65 controls were determined with a sensitive and specific immunonephelometric assay. In adult control patients, β‐trace concentrations were 14.6 ± 4.6 mg/L in CSF and 0.46 ± 0.13 mg/L in serum, that is 32‐fold higher in CSF. β‐trace levels in CSF correlated with age as well as with the albumin CSF/serum ratio (Q A1b ), which is considered a measure for blood‐CSF barrier function. The relationship between CSF β‐trace levels and elevated Q A1b values was studied in various neurological diseases with CSF protein increase. In spinal canal stenosis, CSF β‐trace (mean = 29.5 ± 10.5 mg/L) correlated positively with increasing Q A1b values. In bacterial meningitis, CSF β‐trace (mean = 8.7 ± 3.9 mg/L) remained invariant to changes of Q A1b values. In Guillain‐Barre syndrome, CSF β‐trace (mean = 14.4 ± 6.8 mg/L) was below the Q A1b ‐dependent reference range. In multiple sclerosis and viral meningoencephalitis, β‐trace levels were within the reference range. β‐Trace concentration in CSF can be used in conjunction with Q A1b to distinguish between different neurological pathologies associated with CSF protein increase.