Elevated levels of tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
BACKGROUND
A definitive diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) can only be made by neuropathologic examination and demonstration of typical pathologic changes and the pathologic prion protein in central nervous tissues. This study investigated the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the microtubule-association protein tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from Chinese patients with sporadic CJD.


METHODS
Two hundred two CSF samples from clinically suspected patients with sporadic CJD were analyzed for tau protein by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and for the signal transduction regulatory protein 14-3-3 protein by immunoblot.


RESULTS
Remarkably increased levels of tau protein and increased incidence of 14-3-3 positivity were observed in probable CJD, when compared with possible CJD and others. With a threshold of 1400 pg/mL, tau determination showed a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 94% for the diagnosis of probable CJD. The combination of raised tau and positive 14-3-3 increased the specificity but slightly reduced the sensitivity. Statistical analysis indicated that the raised level of tau positively correlated with the presence of 14-3-3 in CSF but not with other main clinical features, eg, age, gender, clinical manifestations and sampling time.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that Chinese patients with probable CJD have similar increased levels of tau in the CSF as in Caucasian patients. Measurement of CSF tau will be another potential technique for antemortem CJD diagnosis.
Wang
Gui-Rong
GR
National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Gao
Chen
C
Shi
Qi
Q
Zhou
Wei
W
Chen
Jian-Ming
JM
Dong
Chen-Fang
CF
Shi
Song
S
Wang
Xin
X
Wei
Yan
Y
Jiang
Hui-Ying
HY
Han
Jun
J
Dong
Xiao-Ping
XP
D048948:14-3-3 Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D002681:China; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D048948:14-3-3 Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; C054369:MAPT protein, human; D016875:tau Proteins