sCD163 in ALS Patients

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease with progressive muscle weakness leading to severe disability and eventually death.Since the diagnosis relies on clinical features and electromyographic abnormalities, which may occur rather late in the disease course, there is a need to identify diagnostic tests that can confirm or exclude the diagnosis of ALS in the earlier phase of the disease. More recently, there are studies suggesting neuroinflammation to play a role for the development of ALS. Cluster of differentiation 163 is found to be up regulated in a large range of inflammatory diseases. At the investigators lab, pilot data (Kallestrup M et al, unpublished data) has shown promising results. There was an increased level of cluster of differentiation 163 (sCD163) in cerebrospinal fluid in 7 patients with ALS compared with controls. The purpose of the investigators study is to define the concentration of sCD163 in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum in patients with ALS compared with controls (patients with unspecified neurological symptoms). Furthermore, the investigators will define the concentrations of protein, glucose, immunoglobulin G index and other factors in the spinal fluid.