A DECREASE IN SERUM SIALYLTRANSFERASE LEVELS IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

A reliable antemortem serum marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD) would be of great importance for the early detection and subsequent therapeu tic management of the disease. We have noted a significant decrease in serum levels of the soluble form of the sialyltransferase enzyme in a group of AD patients when compared with both age-matched elderly (ove r 60 years) and young (under 60 years) controls. In a population of Do wn's syndrome patients, who develop AD pathology with increasing age, there was an age-related decrease in serum sialyltransferase activity in patients from 20 to 60 years to approach enzyme levels similar to t hose observed in the AD group. This significant decrease in serum sial yltransferase levels observed may both prove a useful peripheral early biochemical marker of neurodegeneration and provide an indication of the underlying cellular events that occur during the process of nerve cell death in AD.