Dement Neurocogn Disord.  2016 Dec;15(4):122-128. 10.12779/dnd.2016.15.4.122.

The Correlation Study between Plasma Aβ Proteins and Cerebrospinal Fluid Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers

• Shin HS
• Lee SK
• Kim S
• Kim HJ
• Chae WS
• Park SA

• KMID: 2442837
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12779/dnd.2016.15.4.122

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β proteins (Aβ). In this study we explored the correlation of plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 concentrations with Aβ42, total tau (tTau) and phosphorylated tau 181 (pTau181) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in AD and control subjects to further understand the characteristics of plasma Aβ proteins levels.
METHODS
The consecutive subjects (44 AD and 47 controls) in this study were recruited. The plasma levels of Aβ40 and Aβ42 were measured using a commercially available sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. And the corresponding CSFs were analyzed in terms of Aβ42, tTau and pTau181 concentrations using INNOTEST ELISA kits. Further, the albumin levels were measured both in serum and CSF and albumin ratio was obtained to check the integrity of blood-brain barrier.
RESULTS
CSF Aβ42 concentrations were significantly decreased while tTau and pTau181 levels were significantly increased in AD subjects. The plasma levels of Aβ42 were significantly lower (p=0.007), while the Aβ40/Aβ42 ratio was significantly higher (p<0.001) in AD patients than in controls. The overall plasma Aβ42 levels showed a positive correlation with those of CSF Aβ42 (p=0.001), but not with the others in CSF. In subgroup analysis, the CSF Aβ42 demonstrated positive correlation with not only plasma Aβ42 but also Aβ40 levels in controls. However, no significant relationship was noted between plasma and CSF Aβ proteins in AD group.
CONCLUSIONS
The plasma Aβ42 and Aβ40 concentrations were shown to have a close relationship with CSF Aβ42 levels in controls, but not in AD subjects. Our results suggest that the correlation between plasma Aβ40 and CSF Aβ42 levels is perturbed in AD.

Keyword

Alzheimer's disease; amyloid β proteins; biomarker; blood; cerebrospinal fluid

MeSH Terms

Alzheimer Disease*
Biomarkers*
Blood-Brain Barrier
Cerebrospinal Fluid*
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Plasma*
Statistics as Topic*
Biomarkers

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Correlation between CSF Aβ42 and plasma Aβ40, Aβ42. A and B: Correlation between CSF Aβ42 and plasma beta amyloid in all participants (A-Aβ40, B-Aβ42). C and D: Correlation between CSF Aβ42 and plasma beta amyloid (C-Aβ40, D-Aβ42). E and F: Correlation between CSFAβ42 and plasma beta amyloid (E-Aβ40, F-Aβ42). AD: Alzheimer's disease, CON: control, CSF: cerebrospinal fluid.

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