title: Cerebrospinal fluid Tau/α-synuclein ratio in Parkinson's disease and degenerative dementias.
abstract: Although alpha-synuclein is the main constituent of Lewy bodies, cerebrospinal fluid determination on its own does not seem fundamental for the diagnosis of synucleinopathies. We evaluated whether the combination of classical biomarkers, Aβ(1-42) , total tau, phosphorylated tau, and α-synuclein can improve discrimination of Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. Aβ(1-42) , total tau, phosphorylated tau, and α-synuclein were measured in a series of patients with Parkinson's disease (n = 38), dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 32), Alzheimer's disease (n = 48), frontotemporal dementia (n = 31), and age-matched control patients with other neurological diseases (n = 32). Mean α-synuclein levels in cerebrospinal fluid were significantly lower in the pathological groups than in cognitively healthy subjects. An inverse correlation of α-synuclein with total tau (r = -0.196, P < .01) was observed. In the group of patients with Parkinson's disease, Aβ(1-42) , total tau, and phosphorylated tau values were similar to controls, whereas total tau/α-synuclein and phosphorylated tau/α-synuclein ratios showed the lowest values. Cerebrospinal fluid α-synuclein alone did not provide relevant information for Parkinson's disease diagnosis, showing low specificity (area under the curve, 0.662; sensitivity, 94%; specificity, 25%). Instead, a better performance was obtained with the total tau/α-syn ratio (area under the curve, 0.765; sensitivity, 89%; specificity, 61%). Combined determination of α-synuclein and classical biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid shows differential patterns in neurodegenerative disorders. In particular, total tau/α-synuclein and phosphorylated tau/α-synuclein ratios can contribute to the discrimination of Parkinson's disease. © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy. parnetti@unipg.it
authors.forename: Lucilla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parnetti
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chiasserini
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bellomo
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giannandrea
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Carlo
authors.forename: Mohamed M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Qureshi
authors.forename: Mustafa T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ardah
authors.forename: Shiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varghese
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonanni
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borroni
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tambasco
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eusebi
authors.forename: Aroldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onofrj
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Padovani
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calabresi
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: El-Agnaf
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003704:Dementia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); D016875:tau Proteins