Cerebrospinal Fluid α-Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide: A Comparison between Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 2; p. 199
• Main Authors: Papiri, Giulio, Vignini, Arianna, Capriotti, Luigi, Verdenelli, Paola, Alia, Sonila, Di Paolo, Alice, Fiori, Chiara, Baldinelli, Sara, Silvestrini, Mauro, Luzzi, Simona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.01.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Amyloid beta-Peptides - cerebrospinal fluid; Autonomic nervous system; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Calcitonin; Calcitonin gene-related peptide; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide - cerebrospinal fluid; Cerebrospinal fluid; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; cognitive impairment; Dementia; Diagnostic tests; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Hospitals; Humans; Immunological memory; Magnetic resonance imaging; Motor neurons; Multiple Sclerosis; Nervous system; Neurodegenerative diseases; neuropsychology; Pain perception; Pathogenesis; Patients; Peptide Fragments; Peptides; Phenotypes; Retrospective Studies; Spinal cord; Synaptic plasticity; Tau protein; tau Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid; Thyroid gland; Vasodilation; α-CGRP; Italy; neuropsychology; cognitive impairment; α-CGRP; Alzheimer’s disease; biomarkers; multiple sclerosis
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom12020199

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) represent an emerging health problem on a global scale, as they are responsible for a significant contribution to the burden of disability in Western countries. Limited numbers of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diagnostic markers are available for each disease (amyloid and tau deposition markers for AD and oligoclonal bands for MS) representing mostly state markers that provide few, if any, clues about the severity of the clinical phenotype. α-CGRP is a neuropeptide implied in nociception, vasodilation, synaptic plasticity and immune functions. This neuropeptide is expressed in encephalic regions connected to memory, attention, autonomic and behavioral functions and is also expressed by spinal motor neurons. The present work confronted α-CGRP levels between 19 AD, 27 MS and 17 control subjects using an ELISA/EIA assay. We measured higher CSF α-CGRP contents in control subjects with respect to AD, as shown in previous studies, as well as in MS patients in comparison to AD. The control subjects and MS patients did not significantly differ between each other. We did not observe a relationship between CSF protein content, albumin quotient and α-CGRP. We also describe, retrospectively, an association between higher CSF CGRP content and higher MRI overall lesion count in MS and between lower α-CGRP and worse attention and visuo-perceptual skills in AD. We speculate that α-CGRP could be differentially involved in both disabling diseases.