Salivary tau as a probable diagnostic method for Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundBiomarkers can be detected in blood levels and, more recently, the feasibility of identifying TAU protein in salivary samples was verified.MethodThis is a case‐control study carried out in patients diagnosed with probable AD and cognitively healthy and non‐AD patients who had research centers in the cities of Ribeirão Preto, Jaboticabal, Louveira and São Paulo, Brazil. For the quantification of t‐Tau by the ELISA method in the saliva of research participants, we used the Kit MBS022635 Human Tau Protein ELISA. And for the quantification of phosphorylated TAU (pTAU), the Kit E‐EL‐H5314 Human pMAPT pTAU (microtubule‐associated phosphorylated tau protein) ELISA Kit was usedResultTotal TAU protein concentrations showed no evidence for differences in concentrations in the three groups of patients, with and without Alzheimer’s disease. However, the phosphorylated TAU protein brings a very interesting finding, as it showed variations between young and elderly patients with and without the disease.ConclusionTotal TAU protein does not seem to be a likely biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of the disease. However, our results show that phosphorylated TAU was elevated in the elderly and, in the elderly with AD, it was even higher.