Differential levels of p75NTR ectodomain in CSF and blood in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a novel diagnostic marker

• Published in: Translational psychiatry 2015-10, Vol.5 (10), p.e650-e650
• Main Authors: Jiao, S-S, Bu, X-L, Liu, Y-H, Wang, Q-H, Liu, C-H, Yao, X-Q, Zhou, X-F, Wang, Y-J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/53/2421; 692/699/476; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; Antigens, CD - blood; Antigens, CD - cerebrospinal fluid; Area Under Curve; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Psychology; Biomarkers - blood; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Diagnosis, Differential; Dimensional Measurement Accuracy; Disease Progression; Female; Humans; Intelligence Tests; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nerve Tissue Proteins - blood; Nerve Tissue Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid; Neuroprotection - physiology; Neurosciences; Original; original-article; Parkinson Disease - blood; Parkinson Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Peptide Fragments - metabolism; Pharmacotherapy; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychiatry; Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor - blood; Statistics as Topic; Stroke - blood; Stroke - cerebrospinal fluid; Stroke - diagnosis
• ISSN: 2158-3188; 2158-3188
• DOI: 10.1038/tp.2015.146

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the primary cause of dementia in the elderly. The ectodomain of p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR-ECD) has been suggested to play important roles in regulating beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and in protecting neurons from the toxicity of soluble Aβ. However, whether and how the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of p75NTR-ECD change in patients with AD are not well documented. In the present study, we determined the concentrations of serum p75NTR-ECD in an AD group, a Parkinson disease group and a stroke group, as well as in a group of elderly controls without neurological disorders (EC). We also determined the levels of CSF p75NTR-ECD in a subset of the AD and EC groups. Our data showed that a distinct p75NTR-ECD profile characterized by a decreased CSF level and an increased serum level was present concomitantly with AD patients but not with other diseases. p75NTR-ECD levels in both the serum and CSF were strongly correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores and showed sound differential diagnostic value for AD. Moreover, when combining CSF Aβ42, CSF Aβ42/40, CSF ptau181 or CSF ptau181/Aβ42 with CSF p75NTR-ECD, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and diagnostic accuracies improved. These findings indicate that p75NTR-ECD can serve as a specific biomarker for AD and the determination of serum and CSF p75NTR-ECD levels is likely to be helpful in monitoring AD progression.