CSF-tau and CSF-Abeta(1-42) in posterior cortical atrophy

Abstract

Objective: Our purpose was to measure Abeta(1-42), T-tau and P-tau(181) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a presenile dementia likely to represent a variant of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: CSF samples from 34 subjects including 9 patients with PCA, 11 age-matched patients with AD and 14 age-matched cognitively healthy controls were analyzed using commercially available ELISA kits.

Results: The Abeta(1-42), T-tau and P-tau(181) levels in PCA patients differed significantly (p < 0.02) from those in healthy controls but were indistinguishable from subjects with a clinical diagnosis of AD.

Conclusion: High T-tau and P-tau(181) and low Abeta(1-42) levels in PCA - typically observed in AD - indicate that the underlying pathology of PCA is usually AD. If these findings are replicated in PCA patients with autopsy-confirmed AD neuropathology, PCA patients may be eligible for disease-modifying AD treatments.