Serum and cerebrospinal fluid cystatin C levels in vascular and Alzheimer's dementia.
BACKGROUND
Cystatin C, a cysteine protease inhibitor, has been implicated in the neurodegenerative and repair processes of the nervous system, and the deposition of the same protein together with beta amyloid peptide was found as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in different types of dementias.


OBJECTIVE
Because of the differential diagnostic importance, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cystatin C levels of 24 late onset Alzheimer's demented (AD) and 16 ischemic type of vascular demented (VD) probands were compared with 17 aged control (AC) persons.


RESULTS
The serum and CSF cystatin levels were found in the normal range in all groups. The ischemic VD probands had the tendency to have higher cystatin C levels than the AD. No correlation has been found with the severity and duration of dementia and with the other measured parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that lower than normal CSF cystatin C level is not a diagnostic marker in ischemic VD and CAA related to AD.
Kálmán
J
J
Department of Psychiatry, Szent-Györgyi University Medical School, Szeged, Hungary.
Márki-Zay
J
J
Juhász
A
A
Sántha
A
A
Dux
L
L
Janka
Z
Z
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D055316:Cystatin C; D015891:Cystatins / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
C525030:CST3 protein, human; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D055316:Cystatin C; D015891:Cystatins; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors