LOW-LEVELS OF NERVE GROWTH-FACTOR IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID OF CHILDREN WITH RETT-SYNDROME

A role for neurotrophic factors has been postulated in some human neur odegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The known developmental effects of these substances suggested that, in some neurologic diseases affecting children, neurotrophic factors mig ht be inadequate. Using a sensitive, two-site enzyme-linked immunoassa y, we examined the content of nerve growth factor in the cerebrospinal fluid of 11 children with Rett syndrome and of 24 control patients wi th various neurologic diagnoses or suffering from other diseases. Nerv e growth factor levels were significantly lower in the cerebrospinal f luid of the patients with Rett syndrome than in control patients. The lower level of cerebrospinal fluid nerve growth factor in Rett syndrom e suggests that lack of nerve growth factor may be involved in the pat hogenesis of this disease or reflect the underlying brain damage prese nt.