Lipid peroxidation products and antioxidant proteins in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid from multiple sclerosis patients

Lipid peroxidation (LPx) products were measured as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TS) and lipid-soluble fluorescent pigments (FP) in both plasma and CSF from MS patients and controls. Although no significant changes were found in MS plasma, we report here for the first time increases in both TS and FP in MS CSF (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively, compared with patients with other neurological diseases), indicating that increased LPx in CNS may be a feature of MS. Levels of transferrin were normal but caeruloplasmin (CP), a major antioxidant plasma protein, was significantly raised in MS patients (p<0.01) and this may represent an adaptive response to increased oxidative challenge. Neither of these proteins was detectable in CSF using radial immunodiffusion. There was no significant correlation between the severity or duration of the disease nor the period since the last relapse and either LPx products of CP suggesting that the changes observed in this work are not simply the direct result of demyelination and tissue damage.