CSF lactate dehydrogenase activity in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease exceeds that in other dementias

The diagnosis of Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease (CJD) is still made by
exclusion of other dementias. We now evaluated lactate
dehydrogenase (LDH) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a possible
additional diagnostic tool. CSF LDH levels of patients with CJD ( n
= 26) were compared with those in other dementias ( n = 28). LDH
isoenzymes were determined in a subset ( n = 9). Total LDH and
isoenzyme LDH-1 were significantly higher, whereas the fractions of
LDH-2 and LDH-3 were significantly lower in CJD patients. We
conclude that in addition to established CSF parameters, LDH and
its isoenzymes might serve as a further help to discriminate
between CJD and other dementias. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG,
Basel.