19/20 kDa low molecular weight serum protein pattern: a novel potential biochemical prognostic marker for different types of dementia.

In recent years, several attempts have been made to identify biochemical and/or genetic markers which might have diagnostic and prognostic uses for Alzheimer's disease (AD). To look for possible new blood markers, a longitudinal study was carried out in our Central Nervous System Biomedical Research Center between October 1996 and July 1998. A total of 30 AD subjects were diagnosed as AD patients according to the DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Vascular dementia (VD, n= 17), mixed dementia (MXD, n = 18) and healthy age-matched control subjects (n = 15) have been included in the study. Serum samples have been analysed by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and the resulting protein patterns have been compared. The objectives of this study were to examine the presence of peripheral markers among patients with AD, VD and MXD and to explore the relationship between serum markers and APOE genotype. The findings suggest that two proteins of 19 and 20kDa molecular weight, respectively, might be associated with disease progression in different types of dementia.