title: Neurochemical diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia by CSF Abeta42, Abeta42/Abeta40 ratio and total tau.
abstract: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of amyloid beta peptides ending at positions 42 and 40 (Abeta42 and Abeta40, respectively), and total tau (tTau) protein were measured by ELISA in order to compare their accuracy in discriminating patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 22), non-Alzheimer dementia (nAD, n = 11) and control subjects (CON, n=35). As compared to the other groups, the concentrations of Abeta42 and tTau were decreased (P<0.001) and increased (P<0.001) in AD, respectively, while Abeta40 did not differ significantly among the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to define cut-off values for maximized sensitivity and specificity. For all groups compared the Abeta peptide ratio 42/40 classified more patients correctly, as compared to the concentration of Abeta42 alone: AD versus controls, 94 and 86.7%; AD versus nAD, 90 and 85% and AD versus nAD plus controls, 90.8 and 87%, respectively. The percentage of correctly classified patients was further improved when the Abeta ratio was combined with the analysis of the tTau concentration. Presence of the apolipoprotein E 4 allele, age or degree of mental disability did not significantly influence the parameters studied.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neurobiology Lab, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lewczuk
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Esselmann
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Maler
authors.forename: Andreas Wolfram
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Henkel
authors.forename: Maria Kerstin
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Henkel
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eikenberg
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Antz
authors.forename: Wolf-Rainer
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Reulbach
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kornhuber
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiltfang
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C078592:amyloid beta-protein (1-40); C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); D016875:tau Proteins