Increased Total TAU But Not Amyloid-β₄₂; in Cerebrospinal Fluid Correlates with Short-Term Memory Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lin, Yuh-Te^{a; b; c; f} | Cheng, Jiin-Tsuey^a | Yao, Yun-Chin^d | Juo, ^d | Lo, Yuk-Keung^{b; c; f} | Lin, Ching-Hwung^{b; c} | Ger, Luo-Ping^e | Lu, Pei-Jung^{d; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Biological Sciences, National SunYat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [b] Section of Neurology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [c] Center of Geriatric Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [d] Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Chang Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan | [e] Department of Medical Education and Research, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [f] School of Medicine, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Pei-Jung Lu, Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Chang Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 6 2353535 x 4415 or 4416; E-mail: frankpjlu@yahoo.com; pjlu2190@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

Abstract: Given the need for tools for early and accurate diagnosis, prediction of disease progression, and monitoring efficacy of therapeutic agents for AD, the study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers has become a rapidly growing field of research. Several studies have reported conflicting data regarding the relationships between CSF biomarkers and dementia severity. In this study, we have focused on the identification of CSF biomarkers and their correlations with the impairment of different cognitive domains measured using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI). Patients with AD (n=28), non-AD dementia (n=16), other neurological disorders (OND, n=14), and healthy controls (HC, n=21) were enrolled. Our results revealed significantly higher CSF total tau (t-tau) and lower amyloid-β42 levels in AD patients compared with those in HC and OND groups. Moreover, our data show that CSF t-tau levels, but not Aβ42 levels, have an inverse correlation with the score of short-term memory in CASI for patients with AD (Spearman: r=−0.444; p=0.018). This data might indicate that the higher CSF t-tau level is associated with more NFT pathology and more severe impairment of short-term memory in AD patients.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, beta-amyloid, cerebrospinal fluid, cognition, memory, tau

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2009-1214

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 907-918, 2009