Characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid neuropeptides relevant to clinical research.

Studies of human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) peptides were conducted in an attempt to broaden the utility of CSF peptide determinations in psychiatric research. Healthy volunteers had two lumbar punctures, at least 3 weeks apart, to assess reproducibility within subjects. CSF levels of eight peptides were reliably reproducible, indicating that longitudinal studies of these CSF neuropeptides are feasible. Levels of 10 peptides were determined in four sequential 8 ml aliquots of CSF. CSF rostrocaudal gradients were not found for any of these 10 peptides. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), growth hormone releasing factor (GHRF), and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) were measured in CSF from twins and brothers. CSF NPY levels were heritable, while CRF and GHRF levels were influenced more by environment. CSF levels of CRF, beta-lipotropin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and somatostatin were highly correlated with one another, suggesting that a common factor is responsible for a significant proportion of the observed variance in their CSF levels. These results suggest that CSF peptide measurements may have a broad range of applicability to clinical psychiatric research.