INCREASED PEPTIDYLGLYCINE ALPHA-AMIDATING MONOOXYGENASE ACTIVITY IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID OF PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

Peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) plays a key role i n the biosynthesis of many biologically active neuronal and endocrine peptides that possess a-amide function at their C-terminus, Using D-Ty r-Val-Gly as the substrate, we measured PAM activity levels in the cer ebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of patients with a variety of neurolo gical diseases, PAM activity in the CSF was significantly increased in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), especially during the active s tage, compared with that in patients with other neurological diseases (p<0.05), Levels of CSF PAM activity were not correlated with protein levels in CSF or with level of serum PAM activity, Since PAM is presen t not only in neurons but also in oligodendroglia, it is possible that the increase in CSF PAM activity in patients with MS may stem from ma ssive demyelination and oligodendroglial destruction.