The ceruloplasmin and transferrin system in cerebrospinal fluid of acute leukemia patients.

Abstract

There are evidences indicating that some long-term neurologic disabilities seen in the children surviving acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) could be attributed to the aggressive treatment rather than to the disease itself (1). We demonstrated, by isotachophoresis, that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ALL children during standard central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis, showed alterations in the protein profile (2). The most remarkable finding was the presence of oligoclonal immunoglobulins in CSF of children treated with aggressive protocols. Since a similar pattern occurs in neurologic diseases characterized by intrathecal immunologic and inflammatory reactions (3), we assayed in CSF ceruloplasmin and transfemn, which are generally considered markers of inflammatory processes.