Another Spinal Fluid Biomarker for Dementia (But Not Necessarily Alzheimer's)
Toss one or two more potential biomarkers for dementia into the CSF soup.
European investigators found that the activity of the enzyme chitinase, a marker of telomere dysfunction and DNA damage, was significantly increased in the spinal fluid of patients with AD or non-AD dementia (when compared with similarly aged, nondemented controls).
The results of the study, published in the latest online issue of Neurology, indicate that elevated chitinase activity in the CSF has a nearly 86% accuracy for distinguishing between patients with dementia and those without. When combined with the more traditional CSF markers of AD—namely, decreased beta amyloid levels and increased tau—the accuracy of elevated chitinase activity for identifying dementia rose to 91%. Levels of a secondary biomarker, stathmin (also an indicator of telomere dysfunction and DNA damage), were likewise elevated in individuals with AD or non-AD dementia; but the distinction between nondemented controls was not as robust as that with chitinase activity.
Important caveats to the study are 1) there is a substantial overlap of these biomarker levels between demented and nondemented subjects (see Figure 1 in the article); and 2) chitinase activity in the CSF does not appear to aid a distinction between AD and non-AD dementia.
CSF = cerebrospinal fluid.
European investigators found that the activity of the enzyme chitinase, a marker of telomere dysfunction and DNA damage, was significantly increased in the spinal fluid of patients with AD or non-AD dementia (when compared with similarly aged, nondemented controls).
The results of the study, published in the latest online issue of Neurology, indicate that elevated chitinase activity in the CSF has a nearly 86% accuracy for distinguishing between patients with dementia and those without. When combined with the more traditional CSF markers of AD—namely, decreased beta amyloid levels and increased tau—the accuracy of elevated chitinase activity for identifying dementia rose to 91%. Levels of a secondary biomarker, stathmin (also an indicator of telomere dysfunction and DNA damage), were likewise elevated in individuals with AD or non-AD dementia; but the distinction between nondemented controls was not as robust as that with chitinase activity.
|
Biomarker |
AD Dementia |
Non-AD Dementia |
No Dementia |
P Value |
|
Tau, pg/mL |
604 |
309 |
327 |
6.462 x 10-11 |
|
Aβ42, pg/mL |
494.5 |
734 |
843 |
1.020 x 10-8 |
|
Stathmin, ng/μL |
0.76 |
1.00 |
0.655 |
1.590 x 10-13 |
|
Chitinase activity, ng/μL |
0.665 |
0.76 |
0.32 |
8.442 x 10-8 |
Important caveats to the study are 1) there is a substantial overlap of these biomarker levels between demented and nondemented subjects (see Figure 1 in the article); and 2) chitinase activity in the CSF does not appear to aid a distinction between AD and non-AD dementia.
CSF = cerebrospinal fluid.
