Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: disease stage related changes of biochemical markers (tau protein, creatine kinase, sCD14) in CSF and serum

Objective: Recently, we found CSF tau protein and serum creatine kinase (CK) concentration changes related to the stage of the disease in a smaller series of 20 patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated the presence of inflammatory infiltrates containing macrophages within the spinal cord of ALS patients. One possibility to monitor the macrophage activity could be the determination of the phagocyte activation marker soluble CD14 (sCD14). We aimed to analyse CSF tau protein, serum CK and CSF sCD14 in a larger cohort of ALS patients. Methods: Paired CSF and s…