Evaluation of visinin-like protein 1 concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with mild cognitive impairment as a dynamic biomarker of Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: The correlations between pathology of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD), and concentrations of neuronal calcium sensor proteins, such as visinin-like protein 1 (VILIP-1), in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been discussed in the literature but its utility as biomarker of AD in comparison with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has not been studied yet.

OBJECTIVE: Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the clinical utility of the measurement of CSF concentrations of VILIP-1 in patients with AD, MCI subjects, and non-demented controls. The clinical and neuropsychological diagnoses were supported by CSF biomarkers of neurochemical dementia diagnostics: decreased concentrations of Aβ1-42 and/or Aβ42/40 ratio and increased concentrations of Tau and pTau181 proteins.

METHODS: The study included 33 AD patients, 15 subjects with MCI, and 18 elderly individuals without cognitive deficits. The CSF concentrations of biomarkers tested were determined by using the ELISA method.

RESULTS: Concentrations of VILIP-1 in CSF were significantly higher in AD patients compared to the MCI subjects and elderly individuals without cognitive impairment. Increased concentrations of VILIP-1 correlated significantly with reduced Aβ42/40 ratio and higher pTau181 in AD group.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that VILIP-1 may play a role in the AD pathophysiology and is a good candidate for dynamic biomarker of AD, although this issue requires further investigation.