No association of salivary total tau concentration with Alzheimer's disease

Nicholas J Ashton; Mark Ide; Michael Schöll; Kaj Blennow; Simon Lovestone; Abdul Hye; Henrik Zetterberg

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.06.014

No association of salivary total tau concentration with Alzheimer's disease

Neurobiol Aging. 2018 Oct:70:125-127. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.06.014. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

Authors

Nicholas J Ashton¹, Mark Ide², Michael Schöll³, Kaj Blennow⁴, Simon Lovestone⁵, Abdul Hye⁶, Henrik Zetterberg⁷

Affiliations

¹ Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Institute Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation, London, UK. Electronic address: nicholas.ashton@gu.se.
² Periodontology/Oral and Mucosal Biology, Dental Institute, King's College London, London, UK.
³ Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Clinical Sciences, Clinical Memory Research Unit, Malmö, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
⁶ King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Institute Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Molecular Neuroscience, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK.

PMID: 30007161
DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.06.014

Abstract

There is a need for an accessible biomarker that can complement current cerebrospinal fluid and imaging biomarkers in an accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Saliva is a rich source of potential biomarkers and proteins related to neurodegenerative disorders have been shown to be present in this matrix, including tau. In this study, we quantified salivary total tau (t-tau) concentration in 160 healthy elderly control, 68 mild cognitive impairment, and 53 AD participants using ultrasensitive Single molecule array (Simoa) technology. No median difference in salivary t-tau concentration was found between AD and mild cognitive impairment or healthy elderly control (12.3 ng/L, 9.8 ng/L and 9.6 ng/L, respectively, p = 0.219). In addition, there was no association of salivary t-tau concentration with neurophysiological assessment or structural magnetic resonance imaging. Despite a nominal increase in AD, due to the large overlaps in concentrations between clinical groups, we conclude that salivary t-tau is a suitable biomarker neither for AD nor for cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Biomarkers; Diagnosis; Fluid-biomarkers; Immunoassays; Saliva; Tau.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis
Alzheimer Disease / diagnostic imaging
Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
Biomarkers / metabolism
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnostic imaging
Cognitive Dysfunction / metabolism
Female
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Saliva / metabolism*
tau Proteins / analysis
tau Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

Biomarkers
MAPT protein, human
tau Proteins