Cerebrospinal fluid levels of superoxide dismutases in neurological diseases detected by sensitive enzyme immunoassays.

We measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) and Mn superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) using enzyme immunoassays in 196 neurological patients and 44 controls. The mean Cu/Zn SOD level was 55.8 +/- 27.6 (SD) ng/ml and the Mn SOD, 8.0 +/- 2.5 ng/ml in the controls. Cu/Zn SOD or Mn SOD levels showed neither age-nor sex-related differences in the controls. Both SODs were markedly elevated in cerebrovascular diseases, bacterial meningitis and encephalitis. Mn SOD alone was significantly elevated in neurodegenerative diseases. We compared SODs with CSF levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S-100b protein (S-100b) in cerebral infarction and bacterial meningitis. Both SODs were correlated with NSE and S-100b in patients with cerebral infarction, but not in those with bacterial meningitis. This means that elevations of SODs in CSF may not only be due to leakage from damaged nervous tissues, but also to the induction of SOD in lesions. We conclude that the mean SOD levels were elevated in various neurological diseases, and their varied magnitudes may be associated with the underlying diseases.