title: Plasma β-amyloid levels in cerebral amyloid angiopathy-associated hemorrhagic stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is one of the main causes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the elderly.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze β-amyloid (Aβ) species in plasma in order to uncover biological markers that may contribute to improve the diagnosis of CAA in life.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined the level of Aβ(1-40), Aβ(N-40), Aβ(1-42) and Aβ(N-42) in plasma of CAA-related ICH patients (n = 29) and healthy controls (n = 21) using xMAP® technology. Hemorrhages were identified and classified using a CT scan and brain MRI. Patients were clinically classified as probable or possible CAA according to the Boston criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that plasma full-length Aβ(1-42) and truncated fragments Aβ(N-42) were higher in probable CAA patients than in controls (p < 0.001 and p = 0.046, respectively), and full-length Aβ(1-40) was selectively elevated in probable CAA compared to possible cases (p = 0.015) and controls (p = 0.005). In addition, plasma Aβ(N-42) levels were also higher in patients that presented multiple lobar macrohemorrhages compared to patients that had one symptomatic hemorrhagic event (p = 0.022), indicating that a certain degree of CAA severity is necessary to show increased Aβ fragments in peripheral circulation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that specific Aβ fragments in plasma might be considered as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of CAA.
authors.affiliation: Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Institut de Recerca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Guillamon
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penalba
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Luna
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rovira
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Sabin
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boada
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montaner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016657:Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments