08/28/2009 - News
Spinal Tap May Be Able to Predict Alzheimer’s Disease
By: June Chen, MD
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Small studies have previously shown that biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, may be useful in identifying which patients with mild cognitive impairment will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Now, as reported in the July 22/29, 2009 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association, three cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers identify incipient Alzheimer’s disease with good accuracy.
This study involved a total of 750 individuals with mild cognitive impairment, 529 individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, and 304 controls, all recruited from 12 centers in Europe and the United States. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment were followed for a period of at least 2 years or until they had progressed to dementia. During follow-up, 271 study participants with mild cognitive impairment progressed to Alzheimer’s disease and 59 others were diagnosed with other types of dementia. Three CSF biomarkers, Aβ42,T-tau, and P-tau, were found to be accurate in identifying early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. However, the accuracy reported in this multi-center study was less than that reported in prior single center studies, perhaps due to variability in the assays used to analyze the CSF biomarkers.
The ability of CSF biomarkers to accurately identify incipient Alzheimer’s disease has significant clinical implications, since the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s disease begins long before symptoms progress to dementia. Early identification of Alzheimer’s disease would allow for even earlier initiation of medical interventions that could slow the progression of this debilitating condition.
Source:
JAMA. 2009;302:385-393.
Created on: 08/04/2009
Reviewed on: 08/28/2009
Reviewed on: 08/28/2009
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