Total tau is increased, but phosphorylated tau not decreased, in cerebrospinal fluid in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), objective biomarkers are needed for early diagnosis and progression monitoring. Reduced phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has recently been proposed to provide such a biomarker in ALS. Here, we aimed to scrutinize this notion, evaluating both p-tau and total tau (t-tau) in CSF of ALS patients and control subjects. CSF p-tau and t-tau levels were measured in 60 consecutive ALS patients and 120 control subjects without neurodegenerative disease, using an established specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Contrary to recent reports, CSF p-tau was not significantly reduced in ALS patients compared with control subjects (p = 0.287). However, CSF t-tau was significantly increased (p < 0.001). Correspondingly, the ratio of p-tau to t-tau was significantly reduced in ALS (p < 0.001). The area under the curve demonstrated poor sensitivity and specificity for p-tau, but moderate sensitivity and specificity for t-tau and p-tau/t-tau ratio. Thus, CSF p-tau by itself does not appear a suitable diagnostic biomarker for ALS, whereas CSF t-tau is a (probably unspecific) marker of the neuronal degeneration in ALS.

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Biomarker; Case-control study; Cerebrospinal fluid; Frontotemporal dementia; Phosphorylation; Tau.