Creatine kinase activity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate creatine kinase (CK) in the serum of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Previous investigations have shown an increased CK activity in ALS patients and this has been suggested to be an indicator of patients survival. The study was conducted at the Department of Neurology, University School of Medicine in Lublin. Thirty ALS patients took part in the study. The average duration of the disease was 17 months. Serum CK levels were measured by the enzymatic method with N-acethylcysteine. CK was elevated in 43.3% of the ALS patients. There were no significant differences in the serum CK level between the groups of the ALS patients depending on age, sex, duration of the disease, or clinical condition of patients. The CK level was significantly higher in the serum of the patients with a limb onset than in patients with a bulbar onset of ALS. Our study confirmed the increase in the serum CK activity in ALS patients. CK activity depends on a limb onset or a bulbar onset of ALS, but not on the duration of the disease and the severity of the clinical condition.