Immunological disturbances have been implicated in the pathogenesis of 
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Chemokines are involved in the recruitment 
of immune cells. Regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted 
(RANTES) is a C-C beta-chemokine with strong chemo-attractant activity for 
T-lymphocytes and monocytes. We examined serum levels of RANTES in 20 patients 
with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 14 patients with non-inflammatory 
neurological disorders (NIND) and 13 control subjects (CTRL) and cerebrospinal 
fluid (CSF) levels of RANTES in ALS and NIND group patients in order to 
investigate whether RANTES as index of immune activation is present in ALS 
patients. Patients with ALS had higher RANTES levels compared with the NIND 
patients and CTRL subjects (p = 0.005 and p = 0.02, respectively). CSF RANTES 
levels were also higher compared with the NIND patients (p = 0.007). No 
correlation of serum and CSF RANTES levels with disease duration was found. 
These results may suggest an activated microglia induced recruitment of 
peripheral inflammatory cells to sites of inflammation in ALS patients.