Age-adjusted CSF ß2-microglobulin and lactate are increased and ACE is decreased in patients with multiple sclerosis, but only lactate correlates with clinical disease duration and severity.

We compared cerebrospinal fluid levels of lactate, ß2-microglobulin and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) between 438 untreated patients with multiple sclerosis and 276 patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders. Age-adjusted ß2-microglobulin and lactate were significantly higher and ACE was significantly lower in MS patients than in controls. ß2-microglobulin and ACE positively correlated with high significance both in MS patients and controls. While disease duration negatively correlated and progression index, defined as EDSS score divided by disease duration in years, positively correlated with age-adjusted lactate levels, both did neither correlate with ß2-microglobulin nor with ACE. Both CSF ß2-microglobulin and ACE deserve further investigation as biomarkers of multiple sclerosis pathophysiology.