INCREASED CSF TAU-PROTEIN IN CORTICOBASAL DEGENERATION

Using a sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) m ethod, we measured the concentration of total tau protein in the cereb rospinal fluid (CSF) from nine patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) in comparison with 12 normal control subjects in order to asses s its diagnostic value. The CSF concentration of tau in patients with C-BD (0.69, 0.20 ng/ml: mean, SD) was higher than that in the normal c ontrols (0.48, 0.14 ng/ml, P = 0.0076 unpaired t test). This increase in CBD patients may reflect widespread tau pathology in CBD, but shoul d be interpreted with reserve as an aid to diagnosis.