Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins in Children with Nontumoral Hydrocephalus

Abstract

The changes occurring in the electrophoretic pattern of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins in 37 children with nontumoral hydrocephalus, and the protein pattern of 12 children without organic neurological disease, were studied with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In nontumoral hydrocephalus protein was frequently increased in lumbar and ventricular fluid, in this condition, in intraventricular obstruction, the protein fractions showed a decrease in the prealbumin and an increase in the γ-globulin fractions, and in extraventricular obstruction, the protein fractions showed a decrease in the prealbumin and an increase in the γ-globulin and α₂-globulin fractions. With CSF proteins within normal ranges we found that in intraventricular obstruction, the proteins of the ventricular CSF showed an increase in the prealbumin and/or albumin fractions, and in extraventricular obstruction, the proteins of the ventricular CSF showed an increase in the prealbumin and β-globulin fractions, and the proteins of the lumbar CSF showed an increase in the prealbumin fraction. The diagnostic implications of these findings are discussed.

The Role of Transcranial Doppler Sonography in the Management of Pediatric Hydrocephalus

“…Studies on potential prognostic markers of brain damage in hydrocephalus have shown an increased amount of proteins in cerebrospinal fluid and change of electrophoretic spectrum of proteins in various conditions of hydrocephalus [165]. Concentration of fatty acids, xanthine, hypoxanthine, ganglioside GM1, and lactate in cerebrospinal fluid seems to be an interesting prognostic factor [166][167][168][169].…”