Interleukin‐12 and interferon‐γ are not detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS) is unknown. We investigated the immune‐mediated inflammatory hypothesis of SALS by assaying interleukin‐12 (IL‐12), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with SALS. These cytokines were measured in the CSF from patients with SALS (n=11), patients with immune‐mediated inflammatory central nervous system or nerve root disorders (n=12), and patients with other neurological diseases (n=15) by high sensitivity sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All samples were below the assay detection limits of 0.5 pg/ml for IL‐12 and 8 pg/ml for IFN‐γ. There was no difference between the groups in the mean concentration of IL‐6. There is no evidence in cerebrospinal fluid for induction of a T_H1 immune response in SALS.

• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• motor neuron disease
• cerebrospinal fluid
• cytokines
• enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay