Radioimmunoassay of Astroprotein (An Astrocyte-Specific Cerebroprotein) in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Its Clinical Significance

Abstract

Using radioimmunoassay, astroprotein (an astrocyte-specific cerebroprotein) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 81 cases with intracranial diseases (60 brain tumors and 21 miscellaneous lesions) and four cases with non-intracranial diseases was measured. Astroprotein in CSF of cases with non-intracranial disease was generally below 25 ng/ml. In contrast, 10 of 17 cases (58.8%) with glioma, 10 of 43 patients (23.3%) with brain tumors other than glioma and four of 21 patients (19.0%) with miscellaneous intracranial diseases (including seven cases of intracranial aneurysm, four of meningitis, three of hydrocephalus, three of epilepsy and two of Parkinsonism) showed elevated astroprotein (up to 500 ng/ml or more) in CSF. The cystic fluid in glioblastoma usually contained remarkably large amounts of astroprotein.