Characteristics of subjects.

<p>Clinical details of subjects. ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; F, female; g, grams; l, litre; n, Number; M, male; mo, months; y, years. Age, age of onset, duration of disease and total serum protein are indicated as mean ± standard deviation (SD).</p>‡<p>Duration of disease is the interval between appearance of first symptom of ALS and collection of sample.</p>†<p><i>One-way analysis of variance</i> (ANOVA) followed by Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) <i>post hoc</i> analysis showed that mean age, mean disease duration and mean total serum protein did not differ significantly among the given conditions (p>0.05). ALS subjects were asked to provide all clinical details at the age of onset of disease.