The relationship between the concentration of Tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid and dementia

Objective:To study the relationship between the concentration of the Tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and dementia and to evaluate it′s significance in diagnosis of Alzheimer′s disease (AD). Methods:The concentration of the Tau protein in CSF were measured and comparatively analysed using sandwich ELISA. The patients were divided into 4 groups, including 15 cases of AD, 15 cases of vascular dementia (VD), 20 cases of non dementia neurologic diseases (ND) and 20 cases of normal control (NC). Results:The concentration of the Tau protein in CSF of AD were significantly higher than those of other groups ( P 0.01). There was no statistical difference among 3 clinical stages of AD ( P 0.05), either no difference found between the normal Tau protein group and elevated Tau protein group in the total CSF protein ( P 0.05). The linear correlation analysis based on the total protein in CSF revealed that there was no correlation in ND group ( r =0.16, P 0.05). The linear correlation analysis on age showed positive correlation in NC group ( r =0.53, P 0.05). Conclusion: The measurement of the Tau protein in CSF is refered to the clinical diagnosis of AD.