Background: The clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in early stages may be substantiated by the quantification of the biomarkers Abeta42, Abeta40 and total-Tau (t-Tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Different commercially available immunosorbent assays yield reliable results, yet the absolute values obtained may differ in between tests.

Methods: We used CSF samples from patients that reported to our memory clinic. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays obtained from Innogenetics were used for the quantification of Abeta42 and t-Tau, test kits from IBL International were used to determine Abeta42 and Abeta40 concentrations. The multiplex assay system obtained from Mesoscale Discovery (MSD) Systems was used for the quantification of all three biomarkers.

Results: For all biomarkers, the absolute values obtained with different test systems differ. However, the data sets highly correlate for all comparisons, with the MSD test system proving to be slightly more sensitive. Correlation coefficients (c) for the Abeta42 and Abeta40 quantifications lie between c = 0.80 and c = 0.87, and for the t-Tau quantifications we determined c = 0.99.

Conclusion: We conclude that all assays evaluated give reliable results, yet absolute values obtained have to be assessed differently within the framework of diagnostic procedures, depending on the system used.