Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and neuropsychological abnormalities in dementia: A monocentric study of consecutive patients

Abstract

Background In search of indicators for dementia this study investigated the association of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and neuropsychological test results with disease stage in patients with a beginning or manifested dementia. Methods 190 consecutive patients with symptoms of dementia the CSF parameters Amyloid-β 1–42 (Aβ1–42), phosphorylated tau protein (pTau), total tau protein (tTau), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), protein S100B (S100B), and the Aβ (1–42)/(1–40) ratio (Aβ ratio) as well as the results of the CERAD-Plus test battery supplemented by the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) were analysed. Patients were divided into two groups based on the median duration of reported symptom onset. Results Most prominent were the relations between Aβ1–42 and the neuropsychological memory subtests in the early phase of the disease, which were absent in the later phase. Less pronounced relationships to memory function were detectable for the Aβ ratio and pTau. Conclusion The results substantiate the relevance of Aβ1–42 for memory deficits and support the amyloid cascade hypothesis for Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Our data suggest other pathomechanisms for visual-spatial impairments in AD.