Concentration of soluble adhesion molecules in cerebrospinal fluid and serum of epilepsy patients

Mounting evidence supports the involvement of brain inflammation and the associated blood-brain barrier damage from which spontaneous and recurrent seizures originate. Detection of the soluble form of adhesion molecules (AM) has also been proven to predict outcomes in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. A recent study has shown that expression of AM in brain vessels was upregulated 24 h after kainic acid (KA) induced seizures. The aim of the present study was to investigate soluble AM levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of epilepsy patients. Paired CSF and serum samples were analyzed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to determine the concentrations of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1). Increased serum concentrations of sICAM-1 were present in epileptic patients (41 localization-related of unknown etiology, 19 idiopathic generalized). Serum sICAM-1 level in drug-refractory epilepsy was elevated as compared to new diagnosis epilepsy and drug-responsive epilepsy. CSF sVCAM-1 and serum sVCAM-1 concentrations in the epilepsy group were higher as compared to the neurosis group. Moreover, CSF sVCAM-1 and serum sVCAM-1 concentrations in drug-refractory epilepsy were raised as compared to drug-responsive epilepsy and new diagnosis epilepsy. However, there were no significant differences in concentrations of CSF sICAM-1 between the epilepsy and neurosis groups. Our results suggest that sVCAM-1 and sICAM-1 could play an important role in the drug-refractory epilepsy.