Apolipoproteins and their subspecies in human cerebrospinal fluid and plasma.

INTRODUCTION

Subspecies of apolipoproteins can be defined by fractionating apolipoproteins based on the presence and absence of coexisting apolipoproteins.

METHODS

We determined age- and sex-adjusted correlations of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-measured plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) apolipoproteins (apoA-I, apoC-III, apoE, and apoJ) or apolipoprotein subspecies (apoA-I with and without apoC-III, ApoE, or apoJ; apoE with and without apoC-III or apoJ) in 22 dementia-free participants.

RESULTS

CSF apoE did not correlate with plasma apolipoproteins or their subspecies. CSF apoJ correlated most strongly with plasma apoA-I without apoJ ( = 0.7). CSF apoA-I correlated similarly strong with plasma total apoA-I and all apoA-I subspecies ( ≥ 0.4) except for apoA-I with apoE ( = 0.3) or apoA-I with apoJ ( = 0.3). CSF apoC-III was most strongly correlated with plasma apoA-I with apoC-III ( = 0.7).

DISCUSSION

CSF levels of some apolipoproteins implicated in the pathophysiology of dementia might be better approximated by specific plasma apolipoprotein subspecies than total plasma concentrations.