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Cerebrospinal fluid levels of amyloid β‐protein in alzheimer's disease: Inverse correlation with severity of dementia and effect of apolipoprotein e genotype
Author(s) -
Nitsch Roger M.,
Rebeck G. William,
Deng Meihua,
Richardson U. Ingrid,
Tennis Marsha,
Schenk Dale B.,
VigoPelfrey Carmen,
Lieberburg Ivan,
Wurtman Richard J.,
Hyman Bradley T.,
Growdon John H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410370414
Subject(s) - apolipoprotein e , dementia , cerebrospinal fluid , alzheimer's disease , amyloid beta , medicine , beta (programming language) , endocrinology , genotype , disease , amyloid (mycology) , psychology , pathology , chemistry , biochemistry , gene , computer science , programming language
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by formation in brain of neurofibrillary tangles and of amyloid deposits. The major protein component of the former is τ, while the latter are composed of amyloid β‐peptides (Aβ), which are derived by proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid β‐protein precursor (APP). Both β and various secretory APP derivatives including Aβ and APP s are present in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). To investigate whether clinical signs of AD are paralleled by changes in CSF levels of these proteins, we correlated quantitative measures of dementia severity with CSF concentrations of Aβ, of APP s , and of τ We found that levels of Aβ in CSF of AD patients were inversely correlated both to cognitive and to functional measures of dementia severity. In contrast, levels of APP s and of τ did not correlate with dementia severity. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) genotype did not influence CSF levels of Aβ, APP s , or τ, which were similar among AD patients with Apo E ε3/3, ε3/4, and ε4/4 alleles. These data indicate that CSF levels of Aβ decrease with advancing severity of dementia in AD and suggest that they are independent of a patient's Apo E genotype.