Tau and apo E in CSF: potential aid for discriminating Alzheimer's diseasefrom other dementias

To evaluate the usefulness of tau proteins as biological markers in the dia gnosis of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), we analyzed the concentrati on of tau proteins in 253 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients w ith or without neurological disorders. Our study showed a significant incre ase of the mean CSF tau concentration in DAT patients compared with that fr om non-DAT patients. Interestingly, a significative decrease of CSF tau in patients with frontotemporal dementia was found. We also observed a positiv e correlation between the CSF-tau concentration add the number of apo epsil on 4 alleles. The CSF apolipoprotein E concentration was evaluated and reve aled no variation between the groups, although we observed a significant co rrelation between CSF tau and apolipoprotein E in DAT patients. (C) 1999 Li ppincott Williams & Wilkins.