Differential pattern of brain‐specific CSF proteins tau and amyloid‐beta in Parkinsonian syndromes

Abstract

To evaluate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins reflecting processes of neurodegeneration and glial activation in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP; Richardson's syndrome, n = 20; PSP-Parkinsonism, n = 7) and multiple system atrophy (MSA, n = 25), we analyzed tau, phosphorylated tau, amyloid-beta(1-42) (Abeta1-42), Abeta1-40, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and CSF routine variables. Individuals with PSP-Parkinsonism and MSA had elevated tau levels when compared with Richardson's syndrome, Parkinson's disease (PD), and age-matched controls (P <or= 0.001). Ratios of P-tau/T-tau were significantly different in Parkinsonian syndromes. CSF Abeta1-42 was decreased only in patients with Richardson's syndrome. In a subset of Parkinsonian syndromes, we found elevated GFAP concentrations and increased CSF/serum albumin ratios. There were no correlations between biomarker concentrations and clinical scores in any of the diseases. In conclusion, this preliminary data show that changes in CSF tau and Abeta1-42 may indicate different protein processing in PSP patients and might, therefore, be relevant in the differentiation of PSP subtypes.

Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in parkinsonian conditions: an update and future directions

“…In PD, most studies found normal values,23 24 25 26 27 29 30 but lower levels were also reported 2122 28 In atypical parkinsonism, high t-tau levels were found in DLB25 27 34 and low p-tau/t-tau ratio in MSA and PSP compared with PD 29. However, other investigations found no difference between parkinsonian syndromes 22…”

Glial fibrillary acidic protein is a body fluid biomarker for glial pathology in human disease

“…The data on the value of CSF GFAP levels for the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes remains controversial in view of negative data (Sussmuth et al, 2010;Constantinescu et al, 2010). Patients with schizophrenia had normal GFAP levels (Steiner et al, 2006).…”

Biomarker sources for Parkinson's disease: Time to shed tears?

“…Several studies showed a significant reduction of amyloid beta 1-42 (Ab42) in PD, which was associated with impaired cognitive performance [23][24][25][26][27]. This picture, however is not consistent, since other studies failed to show a significant difference between Ab42 in CSF of PD and controls [28][29][30][31][32]. More consistently, reduced levels of total a-syn were reported in CSF of PD patients in the vast majority of recent studies, predominantly using ELISA techniques [24,[33][34][35].…”