Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

Biomarker profiles and their relation to clinical variables in mild cognitive impairment.

Schoonenboom SN, Visser PJ, Mulder C, Lindeboom J, Van Elk EJ, Van Kamp GJ, Scheltens PH

Department of Neurology Alzheimer Centre, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. niki.schoonenboom@vumc.nl

The aim of the study was to compare clinical variables between MCI patients at different risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) according to their biomarker profile. Fifty-four percent out of 39 MCI patients had a low Abeta42 and high tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (high-risk), 26% either a low CSF Abeta32 or high CSF tau (intermediate-risk) and 20% a normal CSF Abeta42 and tau (low-risk). Both high-and intermediate-risk subjects differed from the low-risk group in episodic memory, executive functions and the preclinical AD scale (PAS),which combines a set of clinical parameters. Subjects at high risk did not differ from subjects with an intermediate risk. Abeta42 levels correlated with the MTA and PAS scores, tau levels with episodic memory. These correlations suggest that the biomarkers are not independent when compared to the other AD markers. Longitudinal studies are necessary to interpret the correlations between biomarkers, imaging, and neuropsychological markers.

Published 4 April 2005 in Neurocase, 11(1): 8-13.
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