Diagnostic Utility of CSF Tau and Aβ42 in Dementia: A Meta-Analysis

CSF tau and Aβ42 are considered as important markers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in early stages. Hence, it is important to assess their status in different types of dementia. The main objective of this study was to assess whether these CSF biomarkers can be used to make the differential diagnosis of AD. In the present study, articles published from 1998 till 2009 were taken and meta-analysis was performed to clarify the consistency in trends of biomarkers- CSF tau and Aβ(42) in AD and other dementias and whether the same can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for its early diagnosis. 11 out of 60 for CSF tau and 07 out of 40 for CSF Aβ(42), dementia case-control studies were selected for final analysis. Descriptive statistics shows that median effect size (raw mean difference) of CSF tau was 429 pg/mL (range: 32 to 910 pg/mL) in AD whereas in Dementia due to other causes (DOC) studies it was 69 pg/mL (range: -53 to 518 pg/mL). Similarly the median effect size of CSF Aβ(42) levels was -442 pg/mL (range: -652 to -41.200 pg/mL) whereas in DOC studies it was -193 pg/mL (range: -356 to -33 pg/mL).