BACE1 levels are increased in plasma of Alzheimer's disease patients compared with matched cognitively healthy controls

Patricia Regina Manzine; Matheus da Silva Souza; Márcia Regina Cominetti

doi:10.2217/pme-2016-0033

BACE1 levels are increased in plasma of Alzheimer's disease patients compared with matched cognitively healthy controls

Per Med. 2016 Nov;13(6):531-540. doi: 10.2217/pme-2016-0033. Epub 2016 Sep 13.

Authors

Patricia Regina Manzine¹, Matheus da Silva Souza¹, Márcia Regina Cominetti¹

Affiliation

¹ Departamento de Gerontologia, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.

PMID: 29754550
DOI: 10.2217/pme-2016-0033

Abstract

Aim: BACE1 is the secretase that acts in Aβ production in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Materials & methods: We investigated mRNA expression in total blood and the levels of plasma protein BACE1 in AD patients compared with cognitively healthy subjects. Probable AD (n = 47) and non-AD control group (n = 32) were evaluated for mRNA expression for BACE1 using reverse transcription-qPCR. A subsample of n = 21 AD and n = 20 non-AD had plasma BACE1 levels analyzed, using ELISA.

Results: No differences were found on BACE1 mRNA between groups. However, higher levels of BACE1 were detected in plasma of AD patients.

Discussion: Blood-based diagnostic tools are desired to improve AD diagnosis. BACE1 plasma levels could provide an additional diagnostic tool for AD in association with neuropsychological tests.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; BACE1; biomarkers; dementia.