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Background
Cystatin C or cystatin 3, a protein encoded by the CST3 gene, is mainly used as a biomarker of kidney function. Recently, it has been studied for its role in predicting new-onset or deteriorating cardiovascular disease. It also seems to play a role in brain disorders involving amyloid, such as Alzheimer's disease. By human-rodent somatic cell hybridizations, Abrahamson et al. (1989) mapped the human CST3 to chromosome 20. Cystatin C was originally described as a constituent of normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and of urine from patients with renal failure (Grubb and Lofberg, 1982). It is present in a number of neuroendocrine cells and its concentration in the CSF was reported to be 5.5 times that in plasma of healthy adults (Lofberg and Grubb, 1979; Lofberg et al., 1981; Lofberg et al., 1983). Grubb and Lofberg (1982) detected the protein in human pituitary gland, and suggested that it is part of the gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine system.