LUMBAR CEREBROSPINAL FLUID TOTAL PROTEIN IN HEALTHY SUBJECTS

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Abstract
This is the first Scandinavian publication on CSF [cerebrospinal fluid] protein in healthy subjects. Fifteen healthy volunteers, between 21 and 32 years, were subjected to lumbar puncture with fine needle. Sixteen ml of fluid was withdrawn in 2 fractions. CSF total protein was analyzed by the Lowry method, modified by Rieder. The first specimen of 6 ml contained a mean of 38 mg% total protein, and the second fraction of 10 ml a mean of 35 mg%. This decrease was consistent and statistically significant. For the combined first 16 ml of fluid, the mean total protein was 36 mg%, and the 95% population limits were calculated to be 17-55 mg%. These figures differ moderately from those found in clinical case series considered to represent normals, but they coincide closely with 1 study of American healthy volunteers of the same ages.