Cerebrospinal Fluid AD Biomarkers Also Common in Other Dementias
A cross-sectional study of patients with a dementia diagnosis found that while core cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD) were most common in AD, they were also frequent in other dementias. Researchers published their findings in JAMA Neurology.
The study included 13,882 patients with dementia from the Swedish registry for cognitive disorders and dementia, SveDem. Researchers combined data from the registry with measurements of cerebrospinal fluid β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ1-42), total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181).
In addition to typical AD-like biomarker profile associations across a range of dementias, the study investigated biomarker associations with cognitive status, as reflected in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores.
Among patients in the study, 53% were female, 47% were male, and the median age was 74 years.
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According to the analysis, a clear AD-like biomarker profile was present in 68% of patients with early-onset AD, 65% of patients with late-onset AD, and 52% of patients with mixed AD and vascular dementia. Additionally, clear AD-like biomarker profiles were found in 25% of patients with dementia not otherwise specified, 9% of patients with Parkinson disease dementia, and 8% of patients with frontotemporal dementia.
“Aβ-related pathology is a defining feature of AD, and most patients clinically diagnosed with AD have biomarker evidence of this process, but the same is found in other dementias, although less commonly,” wrote first author Tobias Borgh Skillbäck, MD, PhD, of the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden, and study coauthors.
Among the biomarkers investigated, researchers found cerebrospinal fluid Aβ1-42 was associated with MMSE score in patients with late-onset AD, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia not otherwise specified. T-tau was linked with MMSE score in patients with late-onset AD, early-onset AD, and dementia not otherwise specified. Meanwhile, p-tau181 was associated with MMSE score in patients with early-onset AD.
“Cerebrospinal fluid biomarker concentrations of AD-like pathology were associated with cognitive function,” researchers wrote, “but mainly in patients with an AD-related diagnosis (early- and late-onset AD).”
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