[Nucleic acids of the cerebrospinal fluid in acute disorders of cerebral circulation].

In normal subjects the overall contents of nucleic acids (NA) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was about 14 micrograms % of P as measured using the Spirin technique. This level was sharply increased in patients with stroke, cerebral arachnoiditis and brain tumors suggesting its possible use as an index in stroke differential diagnosis or a prognostic factor. Most substantial rise in NA levels (4 to 6-fold as compared with normal) was characteristic of the hemorrhagic stroke, the ischemic one eliciting only a rise by a factor of 2 to 3. In cases of a favorable outcome the CSF NA level was steadily decreasing, and in fatal cases it was increasing. The authors discuss the questions as to the sources of CSF NA in pathology, the nature and role of the nucleic factors in shaping the absorption spectra of the native CSF in a 250-300 nm band.