Profiles of 14-3-3 and Total Tau in CSF Samples of Chinese Patients of Different Genetic Prion Diseases

BACKGROUND: The abnormal alterations of proteins 14-3-3 and tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are widely used for the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), while the situations of CSF biomarkers in genetic prion diseases (gPrDs), particularly in Chinese gPrDs patients, have not been well documented. METHODS: Here, with the help of commercial 14-3-3 and total tau ELISA kits, we evaluated the levels of proteins 14-3-3 and tau in the CSF samples of 140 Chinese patients of 14 different types of gPrDs. RESULTS: We found that CSF 14-3-3 ELISA values in the patients with P102L GSS and D178N FFI were remarkably low, while those in the patients with T188K, E196A, and E200K gCJD were relatively high. Linear correlation assays identified a positive correlation between positive rate in Western blot (WB) and ELISA values of CSF 14-3-3. ELISA assays for total tau in CSF samples identified relatively high levels in the cases of T188K, E196A, and E200K gCJD (median: 133840.81, 159992.80, and 153342.92 AU/ml), but relatively low levels in those of P102L GSS and D178N FFI (median: 64397.77 and 43856.79 AU/ml). CONCLUSION: These data illustrate heterogeneous profiles of CSF 14-3-3 and tau in various types of gPrDs, depending on the differences in the mutations in PRNP.