Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-I (sICAM-I) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of demyelinating diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) soluble Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) levels were evaluated (ELISA) in 22 untreated and 13 corticosteroid-treated active relapsing remitting (RR) Multiple Sclerosis (MS), in 10 untreated and 10 corticosteroid-treated Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and in 17 non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NIND). Twenty-eight clinically inactive RR MS were assayed for serum sICAM-1 before and after 3 months treatment of 8 MIU rIFN beta-1b token sc. every other day High sICAM-1 serum levels above the NIND values were found in untreated clinically active MS and in untreated GBS (P<0.05) but not in the untreated clinically inactive MS group. The active MS group showed significantly (P=0.0001) higher sICAM-1 serum levels if compared to the inactive group. Corticosteroid-treated active MS and GBS patients showed lower (P<0.05) serum sICAM-1 levels than the corresponding untreated groups. Serum sICAM-1 levels after 3 months of rIFN beta-1b treatment (P<0.0001, paired t-test) resulted increased compared to pretreatment values in MS. The mean values of CSF/serum sICAM-1:CSF/serum Albumin ratios (sICAM-1 Index) in active untreated MS patients were higher compared to NIND (P<0.005) and to corticosteroid-treated MS group (P=0.01). sICAM Index values in GBS did not differ from those in NIND. The results seem to suggest potential roles for serum sICAM-1 in downregulating the ongoing inflammatory response at the blood-brain barrier level and for CSF sICAM-1 in the maintenance of a central nervous system local immune response.