Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:: disease stage related changes of tau protein and S100 beta in cerebrospinal fluid and creatine kinase in serum

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive cell death of upper and lower motor neurons and reactive astrogliosis. Two proteins which may be relevant in this respect (tau and S 100 beta) were studied in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) next to routine parameters in 20 patients with sporadic ALS and 20 age-matched controls. Serum levels of creatine kinase (CK) were also determined to monitor the muscular involvement. S100 beta showed a significant decrease in CSF over the disease course (P = 0.024). CSF tau as well as serum CK were elevated in 70% of the ALS patients. While highest CSF tau levels were found rather in the early disease stages, serum CK showed a shift of the peak values to several months later. Elevation of the CSF/serum albumin quotient occurred in 20% of the cases most likely representing a non-specific finding in ALS. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.