title: Amyloid beta protein in plasma from patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Fibrillar amyloid beta protein (A beta) deposition is increased in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and is manifested as senile plaques (SPs) and congophilic angiopathy (CA). A beta 40 and A beta 42(43), two chief species of A beta, are documented in SPs and CA, as well as in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and cell culture media. A beta 42(43) is the major component of diffuse plaques, the earliest form of SPs. Thus, we hypothesized that determination of the amount of A beta 42(43) in CSF or plasma might provide a diagnostic laboratory test for AD. We measured amounts of different A beta species in plasma from 28 patients with sporadic probable AD, 40 age-matched neurologic patients without dementia and 25 age-matched normal controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Plasma concentrations of A beta 1-40 and A beta 1-42(43) did not significantly differ among these groups. These findings suggest the unlikelihood that plasma A beta assays would be useful as a diagnostic tool for AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamaoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sawamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oguni
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Komatsuzaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shoji
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005215:Fasting; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments