Cerebrospinal fluid cholinesterases in aging and in dementia of the alzheimer type

Abstract

Protein concentration and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities were assayed in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 26 healthy normal subjects (20-86 years old), 27 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), and 10 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type with extrapyramidal signs (EDAT). In normal subjects, there was an age-related increase in CSF protein and AChE activity and a significant correlation (p less than 0.001) between CSF protein and BChE activity. In the DAT and EDAT groups, CSF AChE activities (mean +/- SD = 17.5 +/- 3.6 and 15.3 +/- 4.4 nmol/min/ml, respectively) were significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than in 13 age-matched control subjects (21.5 +/- 5.6 nmol/min/ml). In contrast, neither CSF protein concentration, BChE activity, nor the ratio of AChE/BChE differed significantly between groups. In patients with DAT, CSF AChE activity was significantly lower (p less than 0.05) in subjects with an early onset compared to those with a late onset (16.4 +/- 3.4 and 19.7 +/- 2.8 nmol/min/ml, respectively), and activity in the latter group did not differ significantly from control values. CSF AChE activity was not related to dementia severity and did not change significantly over an 18-month period. Although these results confirm a cholinergic deficit in patients with DAT, the considerable overlap of CSF AChE activity between groups and the nonsignificant correlation between AChE activity and dementia severity limit the usefulness of CSF AChE as a diagnostic marker of this disorder.

Decreased Cerebrospinal Fluid Acetylcholinesterase in Patients with Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Dementia

“…This is in agreement with the results of most similar studies [35,36,38,39,67], but some studies have found decreased CSF-AChE activity [40,41]. In some of the studies the total ChE activity was measured.…”

“…The findings that the molecular forms of AChE in human CSF and brain are similar and that there is no relation between CSF and plasma AChE suggest that AChE in the CSF is derived mainly from the brain and the spinal cord [33,34]. Most CSF studies have found no significant change in AChE activity in patients with AD [35][36][37][38][39], but two studies found a significant reduction [40,41]. In one study CSF-AChE activity was increased in AD patients carrying the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) Â4 allele [37].…”

Neurotransmitter changes in alzheimer's disease: Implications to diagnostics and therapy

“…Some papers report no difference between patients and controls (Davies 1979;La1 et al, 1984;Elble et al, 1987), while others have found decreased ChE and acetylcholinesterase activities in the CSF in patients with AD diagnosed either by clinical methods (Soininen et al, 1981(Soininen et al, , 1984Tune et al, 1985;Atack et a]., 1988) or confirmed by histology (Appleyard et al, 1983;Arendt et al, 1984). In this very large sample of clinically diagnosed AD patients we found significantly reduced CSF ChE activity in AD.…”

Blood Cells Cholinesterase Activity in Early Stage Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia

“…The apparent contradiction in the timing of the appearance of cholinergic impairment may depend on the demographic characteristic of the populations studied. The population in this study was almost 15 years younger than Davis' cohort (85 B 10 years) [10] and CSF ChE activity has been found significantly lower in subjects with an early onset compared to those with a late AD onset [35]. Con- tradictory results could also depend on differences in the mechanisms responsible for the cholinergic deficit.…”