title: Plasma soluble neuregulin-1 as a diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: To identify some apparent biomarker candidates for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, we investigated whether there would be a significant difference between the levels of the plasma proteins of AD patients and healthy people. A total of 115 subjects were enrolled, 60 individuals with AD and 55 healthy controls. There was a statistical difference in the mini-mental status exam (MMSE) scores and the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scores between the two groups. We used the immunoblotting assay to analyze several plasma proteins in the subjects. Amyloid-β (Aβ), S100a9, and soluble neuregulin-1 (sNRG-1), including α-synuclein (α-Syn) as a detection control were detected in the plasma samples. Unlike Aβ, S100a9 and α-Syn, the level of sNRG-1 of the AD patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy control subjects. The AD patients were divided into mild and moderate groups according to their MMSE and CDR scores. We found a significant correlation between the level of sNRG-1 and MMSE scores. The sNRG-1 level was significantly higher in mild AD patients as well as in moderate AD patients compared with that of the control subjects. These new findings indicate that increased plasma sNRG-1 levels might be a novel and reliable biological marker for the early diagnosis of AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon, 406-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Keun-A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Science, Dankook University, Cheonan-si, Chungnam, 330-714, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Young
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon, 406-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjoo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University, Incheon, 405-760, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yeong-Bae
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain Science, Graduate School, Daegu Gyeungbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, 711-873, South Korea.
authors.forename: Cheil
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon, 406-799, South Korea. Electronic address: yhsuh@gachon.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yoo-Hun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 110-799, South Korea. Electronic address: nslee@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sang Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000073216:Mental Status and Dementia Tests; D020890:Neuregulin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C094131:NRG1 protein, human; D020890:Neuregulin-1
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Beta amyloid; Biomarker; Blood plasma; Soluble NRG-1