Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Patients with Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

In the present study, inflammatory factors, including interleukin (IL) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the peripheral blood of patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS), were evaluated, and the issue of whether these variables were associated with the progression and severity of the disease examined.

Data on inflammatory factors, including IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α, were retrospectively collected from 248 sALS patients admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital between March 2018 and March 2021. The relationships between the variables and clinical features, including gender, age at onset, site of onset, time from onset to hospital admission, ALS functional rating scale score, and diagnostic category were analyzed.

IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α levels were elevated in 43.75%, 7.04%, 16.42%, 25.35%, 1.41%, and 50.72% of ALS patients, respectively, compared with the normal value range. IL-2 and IL-6 levels were inversely associated with the ALS functional rating scale score (r = -0.280, p = 0.004 and r = -0.198, p = 0.048).

Elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines support the hypothesis of an inflammatory response in ALS, and IL-2 and IL-6 may be used as an inflammation-related biomarker for disease severity.