By using selected parameters of glucose metabolism in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) it is possible to monitor successfully the intensity of the metabolic turnover in the CSF compartment. It expresses the condition of the metabolic activity, which can have a higher or lower deviation from normal due to the effect of the different factors. Our objective was to investigate the mutual associations between parameters of the glucose metabolism in the CSF, the study of changes and the evaluation of these parameters in different neurological diseases and the derivation of parameters, which describe the intensity of the metabolic turnover in the CSF compartment. Therefore we made a parallel investigation of the glucose concentration, of the pyruvate concentration, of the lactic dehydrogenase catalytic activity and of the lactate concentration in the CSF and in blood in the majority of the patients and tested the results by statistical methods. Next we derived the static and dynamic coefficient of the energy balance. Both these coefficients describe the condition of the energy metabolism in the CSF compartment and correlate better than other parameters with the clinical condition of the investigated neurological patients. Therefore their use in the laboratory and clinical practice is promising.

        Key words: CSF, glucose, lactate, energy metabolism, coefficient of the energy balance.