Cerebrospinal fluid tau levels in neurodegenerative diseases with distinct tau-related pathology

Cerebrospinal fluid tau (CSF-tau) levels were quantified in 8 patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), 6 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 3 patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and 6 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The CSF-tau levels were significantly increased in FTD and DLB, but not in PSP and CBD, compared to that previously reported in normal controls. Notably, the CSF-tau level in DLB was as high as that in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our study suggests that tau may accumulate in the CSF of patients with certain neurodegenerative diseases other than AD and that measurement of CSF-tau may not distinguish AD from DLB. (C) 1997 Academic Press.