Cerebrospinal Fluid Microglial Markers in Alzheimer’s Disease: Elevated Chitotriosidase Activity but Lack of Diagnostic Utility
Abstract
Activated microglial cells, which are the resident macrophages of the central nervous system, surround amyloid β-plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. Inflammation including microglial activation may contribute in AD pathogenesis, and biomarkers for this process may thus be of value to study AD pathogenesis and might facilitate development of therapies targeting these cells. We therefore examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in patients with AD, other dementias, mild cognitive impairment and in healthy controls. Samples were analyzed for markers with known association to macrophage activity, including chitotriosidase, YKL-40 (CHI3L1, HC gp-39) and chemokine CC motif ligand 2 (CCL2, MCP1). Patients with AD had higher chitotriosidase activity than controls and patients with stable mild cognitive impairment, consistent with the presence of activated microglial cells in AD brains, but with large overlaps between groups. CCL2 and YKL-40 concentrations did not differ among groups. Microglial markers are unlikely to be useful for AD diagnosis, but might be useful for identification of distinct subgroups of patients, and for the development and implementation of drugs targeting microglial pathology.
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Our findings on YKL-40 agree with previous data showing increased CSF levels of this protein in preclinical, prodromal, and dementia stages of AD.
“Our findings on YKL-40 agree with previous data showing increased CSF levels of this protein in preclinical, prodromal, and dementia stages of AD.21–24”
From CSF biomarkers of neuroinflammation and cerebrovascular dysfunction in early Alzheimer disease (2018) · cites this paper as [24]
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- Authors
- Mattsson, N., Tabatabaei, S., Johansson, P., Hansson, O., Andreasson, U., Månsson, J.-E., Johansson, J.-O., Olsson, B., Wallin, A., Svensson, J., Blennow, K., & Zetterberg, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Skaraborg Hospital (SE)
- Lund University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Mattsson, Niklas
- ORCID
- Venue
- NeuroMolecular Medicine
- Published
- 2011-05-13
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 151-159
- ISSN
- 1535-1084 (ISSN-L)
- 1559-1174
- OpenAlex
- W2078097676
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- NeuroMolecular Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Neuroförbundet
- Medicinska fakulteten, Umeå Universitet
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease, microglial activation, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, chitotriosidase, YKL-40, MCP-1, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, neuroinflammation, amyloid plaques, diagnostic biomarkers
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Female, Hexosaminidases, Humans, Macrophages, Male, Predictive Value of Tests, Sensitivity and Specificity, Cohort Studies, Biomarkers, Up-Regulation, Microglia
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