Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause ofnontraumatic neurological disability in Europe and North America. Growth factor expression could participate in the repair process of the demyelinating disease. Among growth factors, brain derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) has been demonstrated to play an important role in neuronal and axonal survival. In the central nervous system (CNS), neurons are the main source of BDNF. Another potential source are activated astrocytes, which are present in inflamed areas in the CNS as shown in MS. In this study, total protein concentration (TPC) and BDNF levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from the patients with MS (n = 48) and control subjects (n = 53) were measured using a Bio-Rad protein assay and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). No significant change in the CSF TPC of patients with MS was seen as compared to normal CSF. The presence of BDNF in the CSF samples was shown by Western blot. Using ELISA, it was shown that the level of BDNF in the MS CSF is higher than in normal CSF. It is concluded that BDNF is a constant component of human CSF. Moreover, it could be implicated in the pathophysiology of MS.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common, heterogenous disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) with a complex trait composed of both genetic and environmental factors
Immune-mediated chronic disorder of the CNS characterized by a combination of demyelination, axonal damage followed by degeneration and reactive gliosis [4, 7]
MS lesions are characterized by inflammatory demyelination and reactive gliosis and remyelination occurs in some lesions, it is limited and incomplete [22]
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common, heterogenous disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) with a complex trait composed of both genetic and environmental factors. It is an inflammatory, immune-mediated chronic disorder of the CNS characterized by a combination of demyelination, axonal damage followed by degeneration and reactive gliosis [4, 7]. In the CNS, neurons are the main source of BDNF [11] Another potential source are activated astrocytes, which are present in inflamed areas in the CNS as shown in MS and Alzheimer’s disease [25, 3]. BDNF and its receptor, TRK, have been found in active MS lesions [16]
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