Cerebrospinal fluid nitrate levels in patients with multiple sclerosis

It has been suggested that nitric oxide (NO) could be implicated in the pat hogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently, two groups reported increas ed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) nitrate levels (oxidation product that provide s an indirect estimation of NO) in MS patients, However, another group did not confirm these findings. We studied the CSF and plasma levels of nitrate with a kinetic cadmium reduction method in 11 MS patients and 25 matched c ontrols. The CSF nitrate levels and the CSF/plasma nitrate ratio did not di ffer significantly between the two study groups, Plasma nitrate levels were nearly significantly lower in MS patients. CSF and plasma nitrate levels d id not correlate with age at onset and duration of the disease in the patie nt group. These data suggest that measurement of CSF levels of nitrate is n ot a marker of the activity of MS.