No correlation between CSF tau protein phosphorylated at threonine 181 with neocortical neurofibrillary pathology in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Sir, We have shown recently that tau protein hyperphosphorylated at threonine 231 (P-tau_231P) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a major candidate marker of Alzheimer's disease (AD), correlates with neurofibrillary pathology in the brain of mostly severely demented AD patients (Buerger et al., 2006). In a clinical study, however, it had been reported earlier, that P-tau subtypes perform differently in the discrimination between mild to moderate AD and comparison groups (Hampel et al., 2004). Recently, Engelborghs and colleagues investigated correlations between CSF levels of P-tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (P-tau_181P), another widely used P-tau candidate marker, and Braak NFT and NP stages (Braak and Braak, 1991) and found no associations (Engelborghs et al., 2007).