Elevation of MCP-1 and MCP-1/VEGF ratio in cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive cell death of upper and lower motor neurons. In this study, we measured monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 42 ALS patients, and compared these levels with those of control subjects with other neurodegenerative disorders or with those of normal controls. MCP-1 levels in CSF were significantly higher in ALS patients than in the control group. VEGF levels in CSF tended to be lower in ALS patients than in the control group, but not significantly. A positive correlation was found between MCP-1 levels in CSF of ALS patients and the total Norris scale. The elevation of MCP-1/VEGF ratio in CSF was more specific to ALS patients compared to other neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and to controls. Our data suggested that both MCP-1 levels and MCP-1/VEGF ratio in CSF may be useful markers for the clinical diagnosis of ALS.