BACKGROUND: The descriptions of early axonal damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) prompted the search of body fluid markers. However, the studies addressing this issue in MS present conflicting results. AIM: To assess the levels of tau protein in patients with definite MS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 50 patients with definite diagnosis of MS (33 F, 17 M; mean age: 33.6 years) and from 19 age-matched individuals without organic neurological diseases (11 F, 8 M), entered this study. With regard to the clinical course, the MS patients were classified as follows: 32 relapsing-remitting (RR); two secondary progressive (SP), and four primary progressive (PP). Twelve patients had clinical isolated syndromes (CIS). The mean duration was 36.1 months (range: 15 days to 20 years). Tau protein was measured in the CSF by double antibody sandwich ELISA. RESULTS: The median tau and the cut-off values of the controls were 104.9 and 175.3 pg/mL, respectively. We found that most MS patients presented normal values. In addition, the clinical features - course, duration, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) value, Poser index of progression, Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score - did not significantly influence the tau levels in the MS group. CONCLUSION: Our study showed similar CSF tau concentrations in MS patients with different clinical characteristics. This suggests that tau protein does not seem to be a useful routine clinical marker of axonal damage.
BACKGROUND: The descriptions of early axonal damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) prompted the search of body fluid markers. However, the studies addressing this issue in MS present conflicting results. AIM: To assess the levels of tau protein in patients with definite MS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 50 patients with definite diagnosis of MS (33 F, 17 M; mean age: 33.6 years) and from 19 age-matched individuals without organic neurological diseases (11 F, 8 M), entered this study. With regard to the clinical course, the MSpatients were classified as follows: 32 relapsing-remitting (RR); two secondary progressive (SP), and four primary progressive (PP). Twelve patients had clinical isolated syndromes (CIS). The mean duration was 36.1 months (range: 15 days to 20 years). Tau protein was measured in the CSF by double antibody sandwich ELISA. RESULTS: The median tau and the cut-off values of the controls were 104.9 and 175.3 pg/mL, respectively. We found that most MSpatients presented normal values. In addition, the clinical features - course, duration, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) value, Poser index of progression, Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score - did not significantly influence the tau levels in the MS group. CONCLUSION: Our study showed similar CSF tau concentrations in MSpatients with different clinical characteristics. This suggests that tau protein does not seem to be a useful routine clinical marker of axonal damage.
Authors: Martin Stangel; Sten Fredrikson; Edgar Meinl; Axel Petzold; Olaf Stüve; Hayrettin Tumani Journal: Nat Rev Neurol Date: 2013-03-26 Impact factor: 42.937
Authors: P S Rommer; F Kamin; A Petzold; H Tumani; M Abu-Mugheisib; W Koehler; F Hoffmann; A Winkelmann; R Benecke; U K Zettl Journal: Mol Diagn Ther Date: 2014-12 Impact factor: 4.074
Authors: Ahmed Abdelhak; Andreas Junker; Johannes Brettschneider; Jan Kassubek; Albert C Ludolph; Markus Otto; Hayrettin Tumani Journal: Int J Mol Sci Date: 2015-07-31 Impact factor: 5.923