Diagnostic value of determinations of lysosomal hydrolases in CSF of patients with neurological diseases

The activities of four lysosomal acid hydrolases, beta-galactosidase, alpha-mannosidase at pH 4.5 and 5.5, N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, and acid phosphatase, have been measured in serum and cerebrospinal fluid from 179 patients with different neurological diseases and from 20 healthy controls. In patients with tumours, decreased activity of beta-galactosidase was found in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, and in patients with multiple sclerosis and collagen diseases, decreased activities of beta-galactosidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase were found in cerebrospinal fluid. The variations of enzyme activities were great between the individual patients even with these groups and analysis of lysosomal enzymes seems to have a very poor clinical value.