TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of tear fluid amyloid and tau levels with disease severity and neurodegeneration
AU - Gijs, Marlies
AU - Ramakers, Inez H. G. B.
AU - Visser, Pieter Jelle
AU - Verhey, Frans R. J.
AU - van de Waarenburg, Marjo P. H.
AU - Schalkwijk, Casper G.
AU - Nuijts, Rudy M. M. A.
AU - Webers, Carroll A. B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - There has been increasing interest in finding non-invasive biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This observational study investigated AD-specific biomarkers in tear fluid. Tear fluid was collected from a total of 65 subjects, including 23 patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 22 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 11 dementia patients and 9 healthy controls (HC). Levels of amyloid-beta peptides (AB38, AB40, AB42), total-tau (t-tau) and phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) were determined using multiplex immunoassays. Levels of AB40 and t-tau were detectable in the vast majority (> 94%) of tear fluid samples. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was available from a subset of patients. In this group, tear t-tau levels were significantly higher in people with dementia compared to SCD patients. Tear t-tau levels were elevated in patients with neurodegeneration (classified according to the A/T/N system) compared to patients without neurodegeneration. Negative correlations were found between CSF AB42 and CSF t-tau, and between CSF AB42 and tear t-tau. In summary, this study shows the potential of tau proteins in tear fluid to be associated with disease severity and neurodegeneration.
AB - There has been increasing interest in finding non-invasive biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This observational study investigated AD-specific biomarkers in tear fluid. Tear fluid was collected from a total of 65 subjects, including 23 patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 22 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 11 dementia patients and 9 healthy controls (HC). Levels of amyloid-beta peptides (AB38, AB40, AB42), total-tau (t-tau) and phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) were determined using multiplex immunoassays. Levels of AB40 and t-tau were detectable in the vast majority (> 94%) of tear fluid samples. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was available from a subset of patients. In this group, tear t-tau levels were significantly higher in people with dementia compared to SCD patients. Tear t-tau levels were elevated in patients with neurodegeneration (classified according to the A/T/N system) compared to patients without neurodegeneration. Negative correlations were found between CSF AB42 and CSF t-tau, and between CSF AB42 and tear t-tau. In summary, this study shows the potential of tau proteins in tear fluid to be associated with disease severity and neurodegeneration.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119671767&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01993-x
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01993-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 34811435
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
IS - 1
M1 - 22675
ER -