title: Can agrin cerebrospinal fluid concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease?
abstract: The need for effective treatments halting Alzheimer's disease (AD) urges the discovery of the earliest possible biomarkers. Agrin is increased in the early stages of AD and is involved in amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrillation and synaptogenesis. We investigated the potential of agrin as an early AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker. We analyzed the agrin CSF concentration in nondemented controls (n = 20) and those with mild (n = 20) and severe (n = 20) AD. The levels of agrin CSF were not significantly divergent among the different patient groups and did not correlate with the concentration of Aβ42, total tau, phosphorylated tau, or the Mini Mental State Examination scores. However, agrin strongly correlated with age in those with dementia. The results indicate that agrin cannot be used as an early AD CSF biomarker using the current immunoassay. However, our population was relatively young; thus, the correlation between agrin and age suggests that stronger differences in agrin concentrations might be found in older groups with more heterogeneous AD pathologic features.
authors.affiliation: Neurochemistry Laboratory and Biobank, Department of Clinical Chemistry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Alzheimer Center, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Campo Milan
authors.affiliation: Neurochemistry Laboratory and Biobank, Department of Clinical Chemistry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Alzheimer Center, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Leah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuroff
authors.affiliation: OncoProteomics Laboratory, Department Medical Oncology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Connie R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer Center, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheltens
authors.affiliation: Neurochemistry Laboratory and Biobank, Department of Clinical Chemistry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Charlotte E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Teunissen
keywords: Aging; Agrin; Biomarker; CSF; Diagnosis