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Updated: May 3, 2026

Detection of Disease-associated α-synuclein by Enhanced ELISA in the Brain of Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Human A53T Mutated α-synuclein
Published on: May 30, 2015
Increased CSF α-synuclein levels in Alzheimer's disease: correlation with tau levels
Sylvie Slaets1, Eugeen Vanmechelen2, Nathalie Le Bastard1
1Reference Center for Biological Markers of Dementia (BIODEM), Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Behavior, Institute Born-Bunge, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Background:
Given the difficult clinical differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), growing interest resulted in research on α-synuclein as a potential cerebrospinal fluid biomarker (CSF) for synucleinopathies.
Methods:
CSF α-synuclein-140 concentrations were determined by a prototype xMAP™ bead-based assay (Innogenetics NV, Belgium). In addition, CSF amyloid β1-42 (Aβ1-42), total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau181P) levels were determined.
Results:
CSF α-synuclein levels were higher in AD patients as compared with cognitively healthy controls (P=.019) and patients with synucleinopathies (P<.001). CSF α-synuclein levels were correlated with T-tau (P<.001) and P-tau181P (P<.001) levels in autopsy-confirmed AD patients. A diagnostic algorithm using α-synuclein and P-tau181P discriminated neuropathologically confirmed AD from DLB patients, resulting in sensitivity and specificity values of 85% and 81%, respectively.
Conclusion:
Because CSF α-synuclein levels were significantly higher in AD as compared with synucleinopathies, α-synuclein might have a value as a biomarker for differential dementia diagnosis.
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