Follow-up investigations of tau protein and S-100B levels in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Background: S-100B and tau protein have a high differential
diagnostic potential for the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD). So far there has been only limited information available
about the dynamics of these parameters in the cerebrospinal fluid
(CSF). However, there is a special interest in finding biochemical
markers to monitor disease progression for differential diagnosis
and treatment. Patients and Methods: We analyzed CSF of 45 patients
with CJD and of 45 patients with other neurological diseases for
tau protein and S-100B in a follow-up setting. All diagnoses of CJD
were later neuropathologically verified. A ratio between tau
protein differences and the time between lumbar puncture was
calculated. The same was done for S-100B. Results: Tau protein
levels of 34 cases were above the cut-off level for CJD (>1,300
pg/ml) in the first CSF sample. In 7 of 11 patients with lower tau
levels in the first CSF sample, tau levels rose. The
above-mentioned ratio was significantly higher in the CJD group
than in the group with other neurological diseases. Similar results
were obtained for S-100B. Conclusion: We conclude that follow-up
investigations and calculation of ratios is a useful tool in the
differential diagnosis of CJD. Variations in this pattern were
observed in single cases. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.