An examination of a novel multipanel of CSF biomarkers in the Alzheimer's disease clinical and pathological continuum.

Introduction: This study examines the utility of a multipanel of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers complementing Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers in a clinical research sample. We compared biomarkers across groups defined by clinical diagnosis and pTau ₁₈₁ /Aβ ₄₂ status (+/-) and explored their value in predicting cognition.
Methods: CSF biomarkers amyloid beta (Aβ) ₄₂ , pTau ₁₈₁ , tTau, Aβ ₄₀ , neurogranin, neurofilament light (NfL), α-synuclein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40), soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (sTREM2), S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B), and interleukin 6 (IL6), were measured with the NeuroToolKit (NTK) for 720 adults ages 40 to 93 years (mean age = 63.9 years, standard deviation [SD] = 9.0; 50 with dementia; 54 with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], 616 unimpaired).
Results: Neurodegeneration and glial activation biomarkers were elevated in pTau ₁₈₁ /Aβ ₄₂ + MCI/dementia participants relative to all pTau ₁₈₁ /Aβ ₄₂ - participants. Neurodegeneration biomarkers increased with clinical severity among pTau ₁₈₁ /Aβ ₄₂ + participants and predicted worse cognitive performance. Glial activation biomarkers were unrelated to cognitive performance.
Discussion: The NTK contains promising markers that improve the pathophysiological characterization of AD. Neurodegeneration biomarkers beyond tTau improved statistical prediction of cognition and disease stages.
(© 2020 the Alzheimer's Association.)