Concentrations of amyloid-beta protein in cerebrospinal fluid increase with age in patients free from neurodegenerative disease.
Cerebral deposition of amyloid-beta protein (A beta) is central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Increasing age is one of the few definitively established risk factors for this disease. The concentration of A beta was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 18 adult neurological patients free from neurodegenerative disease. CSF A beta increased with age, yielding a significant correlation of 0.84. This observation suggests that increased levels of A beta in CSF may be an index of age-related changes in the processing of the amyloid-beta precursor protein resulting in an increased risk for AD.
van Gool
W A
WA
Department of Neurology, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Schenk
D B
DB
Bolhuis
P A
PA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides