Evaluation of Serum and Urinary Cystatin C Concentrations and Their Relationship With Edss in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis



Najafi MR¹ ; Sonbolestan F¹ ; Aghaghazvini MR² ; Sonbolestan SA³ Show Affiliations
Source: Tehran University Medical Journal Published:2011

Abstract

Background: Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), as a major cause of neurological disability in young adults, is difficult to establish, especially at the onset of the disease process, due to lack of reliable molecular markers. The goal of the present study was to evaluate serum and urinary concentrations of cystatin C and to find their relationship with patients' expanded disability status scale (EDSS). Methods: Based on McDonald's criteria, 54 adult patients with M.S. (11 males and 43 females, with a mean age of 32.18±8.37 years) were enrolled as the case group and 24 age and sex-matched healthy, non-M.S. individuals (7 males and 17 females, with a mean age of 34.31±10.07 years) were recruited as the controls. Serum and urinary concentrations of cystatin C were measured in all the participants. Results: The means of serum cystatin C concentrations (mg/Lit) in the case and control groups respectively were 0.90±0.01 and 0.89±0.02, (p=0.84) and the means for its urinary concentrations were 25.37±1.91 and 21.11±2.54 (p=0.18). The means of serum and urinary cystatin C concentrations were 0.90±0.01 and 25.11±2.33 in patients whose EDSS was ≤2.5 and 0.90±0.03 and 26.30±2.84 in patients whose EDSS was ≥2.5, respectively, although, the differences between the two groups of patients were not statistically significant (p=0.80 and 0.74, respectively for serum and urinary concentrations of cystatin C). Conclusions: This study showed that serum and urinary cystatin C concentrations cannot be used for multiple sclerosis diagnosis or even as a marker in its treatment follow ups or for the determination of disease severity.