Subgroups of Alzheimer's disease based on cerebrospinal fluid molecular markers.

• Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is multifactorial and heterogeneous; its diagnosis remains probable. We postulated that more than one disease mechanism yielded Alzheimer's histopathology, and that subgroups of the disease might be identified by the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of proteins associated with senile (neuritic) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. We immunoassayed levels of tau, ubiquitin, and Abeta(1-42) in retrospectively collected CSF samples of 468 clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease patients (N = 353) or non-Alzheimer's subjects (N = 115). Latent profile analysis assigned each subject to a cluster based on the levels of these molecular markers. Alzheimer's disease was subdivided into at least five subgroups based on CSF levels of Abeta(1-42), tau, and ubiquitin; each subgroup presented a different clinical profile. These subgroups, which can be identified by CSF analysis, might benefit differently from different therapeutic drugs.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Psykiatri (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Psychiatry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Aged

Aged

80 and over

Alzheimer Disease

cerebrospinal fluid

Amyloid beta-Protein

cerebrospinal fluid

Apolipoprotein E4

Apolipoproteins E

genetics

Blotting

Western

methods

Cluster Analysis

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

methods

Female

Humans

Male

Middle Aged

Models

Statistical

Neurofibrillary Tangles

pathology

Peptide Fragments

cerebrospinal fluid

Postmortem Changes

Senile Plaques

pathology

Ubiquitin

cerebrospinal fluid

tau Proteins

cerebrospinal fluid

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)