Association of Cerebrospinal Fluid Tau Protein in Patients with Alzheimer’s and Non Alzheimer’s Dementias in a Tertiary Level Hospital in Bangladesh

Background: Alzheimer’s disease is one of the common causes of dementia in our country. The growth of the elderly population, together with the rising incidence of dementia requires immediate attention. There is very limited data regarding how CSF Tau protein correlates with this group of people’s cognitive function. Objectives: To evaluate association of CSF Tau protein in different types of dementia patients (AD and non-AD) and to find out the correlation of CSF Tau with severity of dementia and duration of disease. Methods: This cross sectional analytical study was conducted in dementia clinic (OPD) and inpatient department of Neurology, BSMMU from March’2013 to September’2015. 48 both male and female adult subjects were included in this study. Then they were divided into 3 groups: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) group (n=15), non-AD other dementias (OD) group (n=18) and subjects having neither AD and/or OD were included as control (n=15). CSF Tau protein was measured and compared between 3 groups. Results: Mean age of dementia in AD group was 68.2±9.33 years and in OD group was 67.72±12.74 years. Mean MMSE score in AD group was 13.47± 4.72, in OD group 15.83±3.31 and in control group 28.60±1.12. This study showed that CSF Tau protein was highly elevated in AD group (315.30±279.68 pg/ml) than in OD (57.08±27.41pg/ml) and control (39.23±12.21) groups. Conclusion: The study found that CSF Tau levels are elevated in AD patients in comparison to non AD other dementias. So, CSF Tau protein can be an early biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease.