Cerebrospinal fluid cytoskeleton proteins in patients with subcortical white-matter dementia

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of two cytoskeleton proteins, tau and the light subunit of neurofilament protein (NFL), both considered to reflect cerebral white-matter components, were investigated in a group of patients with a subtype of vascular dementia called 'subcortical white-matter dementia' (SWD). The group consisted of 25 demented patients with frontosubcortical brain syndromes, white-matter changes on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging and vascular disease or pronounced vascular risk factors. CSF-NFL was increased, whereas CSF-tau was normal, suggesting a differential involvement of the cytoskeleton in this patient group. The albumin ratio and the apolipoproteinE4 (ApoE4) allele status were also investigated. The albumin ratio was increased, indicating damage to the vessel walls with breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. No relationship was found between ApoE4 alleles and CSF levels of tau or NFL in this patient group. Besides presenting original data, the disease status of SWD is also discussed.