36 The reason for this decrease Is not clear. One explanation Is that Aβ42 is deposited In plaques, with lower amounts of Aβ being free to diffuse into CSF32 This explanation Is supported by the finding of a strong correlation between low Aβ42 In ventricular

CSF and higher numbers of plaques In the neocortex and hippocampus.37 Subsequent studies also found, however, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical a marked reduction in CSF Aβ42 In disorders without pA plaques, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD),38 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,39 and multiple systern atrophy.40 These findings question the notion of a direct reflection of senile plaque formation by Aβ1-42. CSF Aβ1-42 in tie differential diagnosis of AD and other neurodegenerative disorders The potential

of CSF Aβ1-42 to distinguish AD from other dementias and neurological disorders has been documented In a number of independent studies. Compared with nonAD dementias, a slight decrease has been found In AD.41 Normal levels32 or decreased levels42 were found In Parkinson’s Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical disease (PD). In Lewy body dementia (LBD), a disorder also characterized Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical by the presence of senile plaques, low levels have also been detected, similar to AD.43-46 In addition, low CSF Aβi-42 is found in a relatively large percentage of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and vascular dementia (VD).47,48 In summary, CSF Aβf-42 does not seem to significantly support the differential diagnosis of AD. Predictive value of CSF Aβ1-42 in MCI for AD It has been hypothesized that a decrease Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical In CSF Aβ1-42 might Indicate an early stage of AD and be detectable before clinical symptoms of dementia become overt. One study found a significant decrease In CSF Aβ1-42 In MCI subjects compared with controls.43 In another study In MCI patients who eventually developed AD, however, Aβ1-42 levels did not differ significantly from age-matched normal controls.49 We found Aβ1-42 to be an Indicator of early

Identification of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical AD In MCI subjects taking potential confounding factors Into account, such as age, severity of cognitive decline, time of selleck products observatlon, apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) carrier status, and gender.50 Other Aβ isoforms In contrast to the reduction in CSF Aβ42, Batimastat there Is no change in CSF Aβ40 In AD, resulting In a marked decrease in the ratio of CSF Aβ42/Aβ40.51-55 The reduction In the CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio may be more pronounced than the reduction in CSF Aβ42.52-54 Further studies will show whether the CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio has a larger diagnostic potential than CSF Aβ42 alone. Studies using mass spectrometry,56 urea-based SDSPAGE (sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), Western immunoblot,57 and surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDITOF)58 have found that there Is a heterogeneous set of Aβ peptides In CSF.