Cerebrospinal fluid pro-inflammatory cytokines differentiate parkinsonian syndromes

INTRODUCTION: Neuroinflammation has been established to be part of the neuropathological changes in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonism (APD). Activated microglia play a key role in neuroinflammation by release of cytokines. Evidence of the disparity, if any, in the neuroinflammatory response between PD and APD is sparse. In this study, we investigated CSF cytokine profiles in patients with PD, multiple system atrophy (MSA), or progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). METHODS: On a sensitive electrochemiluminescence-based platform (Quickplex, Meso Scale Discovery®), we examined a panel of C-reactive protein (CRP) and eight selected cytokines, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-18, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, TGF-β1, and TNF-α, among patients with PD (n = 46), MSA (n = 35), and PSP (n = 39) or controls (n = 31). Additionally, CSF total tau protein levels were measured as a marker of nonspecific neurodegeneration for correlation estimates. RESULTS: CRP and the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and Il-6 were statistically significantly elevated in MSA and PSP patients compared to PD patients but not compared to control patients. No analytes differed statistically significantly between MSA and PSP patients. The best diagnostic discrimination, evaluated by ROC curve (AUC 0.77, p = 007, 95% CI 0.660–0.867), between PD and MSA patients was seen for a subset of analytes: CRP, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ. CONCLUSION: Among the investigated cytokines and CRP, we found a statistically significant increase of microglia-derived cytokines in MSA and PSP patients compared to PD patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12974-018-1339-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.