Increase of neuron-specific enolase in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare neurodegenerative human disorder with an incidence of one case per 1 000 000 per year; Recently new diagnost ic tests such as neuron-specific enolase (NSE), S-100, tau-protein and prot ein 14-3-3 have been established as markers in prion diseases. NSE is eleva ted in case of rapid nerve cell loss so quantitative measurement of NSE in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) might correlate with the disease progression. To further evaluate this hypothesis we analysed longitudinal CSF samples from -16 CJD patients. The first spinal tap was taken two weeks after the first clinical signs of a neurodegenerative disorder. This showed an elevation of NSE which continued during the course of the disease. Longitudinal examina tion of neuron-specific enolase in cerebrospinal fluid therefore may be use ful for differentiation between CJD and other dementias. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.