REGIONAL CHANGES OF CILIARY NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR AND NERVE GROWTH-FACTOR LEVELS IN POST-MORTEM SPINAL-CORD AND CEREBRAL-CORTEX FROM PATIENTSWITH MOTOR DISEASE

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) rescues motor neurons in animal mod els of injury and neurodegeneration, and disruption of the mouse CNTF gene results in motor neuron degeneration in mature adults. Glial cell s increase nerve growth factor (NGF) expression in neuropathological c onditions, and the sensory system can be affected in the amyotrophic l ateral sclerosis (ALS) type of motor neuronic disease. We therefore st udied CNTF and NGF levels in post mortem spinal cord and cerebral cort ex from patients with ALS and matched controls. We report a marked dec rease of CNTF in the ventral horn of spinal cord in ALS, with no chang e in cerebral motor cortex. In contrast NGF levels were decreased in A LS cerebral motor cortex, where the corticospinal tract originates, bu t increased in the lateral column of spinal cord, which includes the r egion of corticospinal tract degeneration in ALS. Both CNTF and NGF le vels were decreased in ALS dorsal spinal cord.