Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Serum is Increased in Alzheimer’s Disease and Correlates with Cognitive Impairment

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Oeckl, Patrick^a | Halbgebauer, Steffen^a | Anderl-Straub, Sarah^a | Steinacker, Petra^a | Huss, André M.^a | Neugebauer, Hermann^a | von Arnim, Christine A.F.^a | Diehl-Schmid, Janine^b | Grimmer, Timo^b | Kornhuber, Johannes^c | Lewczuk, Piotr^{c; d} | Danek, Adrian^e | Consortium for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration German^f | Ludolph, Albert C.^a | Otto, Markus^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany | [b] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, München, Germany | [c] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany | [d] Department of Neurodegeneration Diagnostics, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland | [e] Department of Neurology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, München, Germany | [f] German Consortium for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (http://www.ftld.de)

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Prof. Dr. med. Markus Otto, Department of Neurology, Ulm University Hospital, Oberer Eselsberg 45, D-89081 Ulm, Germany. Tel.: +49 731 500 63010; Fax.: +49 731 500 63012; E-mail: markus.otto@uni-ulm.de.

Abstract: Reliable blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are missing. We measured astroglial GFAP in patients with AD (n = 28), frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD, n = 35), Parkinson’s disease (n = 11), Lewy body dementias (n = 19), and controls (n = 34). Serum GFAP was increased in AD (p < 0.001) and DLB/PDD (p < 0.01), and cerebrospinal fluid GFAP was increased in all neurodegenerative diseases (p < 0.001). Serum GFAP correlated with the Mini-Mental State Examination score (r= –0.42, p < 0.001) and might be a follow-up marker in clinical trials. Sensitivity and specificity of serum GFAP for AD versus bvFTD was 89% and 79% and might be the first blood biomarker in the differential diagnosis of AD and bvFTD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, astrocyte, biomarker, cerebrospinal fluid, differential diagnosis, frontotemporal dementia, GFAP, Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease, serum

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180325

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 481-488, 2019