Cerebrospinal Fluid S100B and Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers in Hip Fracture Patients with Delirium

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) S100B astrocyte-derived protein and delirium and to perform stratified analyses according to clinical and CSF markers of dementia.

We performed a prospective cohort study in a university hospital setting. The participants were patients admitted for hip fracture (n = 98) or for elective surgery (n = 50). Delirium was assessed daily perioperatively in hip fracture patients using the Confusion Assessment Method. A consensus-based diagnosis of prefracture dementia was made using all available information. CSF was drawn at the onset of spinal anesthesia. S100B and phosphorylated tau (P-tau) concentrations were measured using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, respectively.

In the hip fracture population (n = 98) there was no significant difference in CSF S100B concentrations between patients with ongoing preoperative (i.e., prevalent) delirium (n = 36, median [interquartile range] 1.11 μg/L [0.91-1.29]) and patients who never developed delirium (n = 46, 1.08 μg/L [0.92-1.28], p = 0.92). In patients without preoperative delirium, those who developed delirium postoperatively (i.e., incident delirium) (n = 16, 1.38 μg/L [1.08-1.62]) had higher concentrations of S100B than the 46 who never did (p = 0.013). This difference was confined to patients with pathological concentrations of P-tau (≥60 ng/L, n = 38). We also found that P-tau and S100B were correlated in CSF in the elective surgery patients.

CSF S100B was elevated in patients with incident delirium who also had pathological levels of the Alzheimer disease biomarker P-tau, suggesting vulnerability caused by a preexisting process of astrocytic activation and tau pathology.