Objective: In this study we investigated the relationships between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (tau and amyloid-β1-42 [Aβ1-42]) and cognition or behavior in patients with frontotemporal dementia (the behavioral variant, bvFTD).
Methods: We included 58 patients with bvFTD. All patients underwent a neuropsychological assessment and lumbar puncture. Relationships between CSF biomarkers and cognition or behavior were assessed with linear regression analysis.
Results: After correction for age, sex, and education, CSF tau levels were found to be negatively related to the Visual Association Test (standardized β = -0.3, P < .05), whereas CSF Aβ1-42 levels were found to be positively related to the Mini-Mental State Examination (β = 0.3, P < .05), the frontal assessment battery (β = 0.5, P < .05), and digit span backwards test (β = 0.3, P = .01). We did not find relations between CSF biomarkers and behavior (measured by the neuropsychiatric inventory). After excluding all patients with a CSF biomarker profile often seen in Alzheimer's disease (high levels of tau and low levels of Aβ1-42), we still found relations between CSF Aβ1-42 levels and Visual Association Test object naming (β = 0.4, P < .05), as well as between CSF Aβ1-42 levels and the frontal assessment battery (β = 0.5, P < .05, but there was no relation between CSF tau and cognition.
Conclusion: Low CSF Aβ1-42 levels are associated with worse general cognitive function and worse executive function in patients with bvFTD. Our results provide circumstantial evidence for a pathophysiological role of Aβ1-42 in bvFTD.
Copyright © 2013 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.