Biomarker in CFS for Alzheimer's disease

Measurement of biological parameters in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is of great importance for diagnosis of dementia. The aim of the present study was to measure 3 important biomarkers in CSF of Alzheimer's patients: beta-Amyloid (1-42) (A beta 42), total-Tau and phospho-Tau-181. In comparison, samples from patients with frontotemporal lobe dementia, alcohol dementia and major depression were studied. All groups were compared with controls without neuropsychiatric disorder. A beta 42 was significantly decreased in patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobe dementia. Total-Tau was significantly increased in patients with Alzheimer's disease and alcohol dementia and phospho-Tau-181 was significantly increased in patients with Alzheimer's disease and alcohol dementia, but reduced in patients with frontotemporal lobe dementia. The ratio phosphoTau-181/A beta 42 allowed a highly significant differentiation of Alzheimer's disease from all other groups. The calculation of a cumulative score coefficient of all 3 measured parameters gave a suitable diagnostic tool for the different forms of dementia.