Neurology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy.
J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2017 Sep;124(9):1105-1108. doi: 10.1007/s00702-017-1743-6. Epub 2017 Jun 15.
Low levels of serum uric acid (UA) are a risk factor for many neurodegenerative diseases but the role of UA in tauopathies has not been yet fully evaluated. In this study, we assessed the risk associated with serum UA levels in a large group of patients with tauopathies, either primary or secondary. The mean serum UA concentrations of 111 patients with tauopathies (TAU), including 41 with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 45 with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 25 with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) were compared to that of 130 controls (CTL). The association between serum UA and TAU condition, PSP, AD and FTD was calculated as odd ratio (OR) adjusted for age and gender. A cut-off value of serum UA was finally obtained to predict subjects at risk for TAU. The serum UA levels in TAU and PSP, AD and FTD subgroups were similar, and significantly lower than CTL. Linear regression revealed inverse relationships between UA and TAU (OR = 0.610), PSP (OR = 0.626), AD (OR = 0.685) and FTD (OR = 0.577). The cut-off value of 4.35 mg/dl (AUC = 0.655) discriminates TAU from CTL, although with poor specificity and sensitivity. Low concentrations of serum UA represent a common risk factor for different tauopathies (PSP, FTD and AD). These findings may represent a starting point for preventive strategies or novel therapeutic approaches in this group of severe neurodegenerative diseases.
血清尿酸（UA）水平低是许多神经退行性疾病的危险因素，但 UA 在 tau 病中的作用尚未得到充分评估。在这项研究中，我们评估了大量 tau 病患者（原发性或继发性）血清 UA 水平相关的风险。将 111 例 tau 病患者（TAU）的平均血清 UA 浓度与 130 例对照（CTL）进行比较，包括 41 例进行性核上性麻痹（PSP）、45 例阿尔茨海默病（AD）和 25 例额颞叶痴呆（FTD）。血清 UA 与 TAU 情况、PSP、AD 和 FTD 的相关性通过年龄和性别调整后的比值比（OR）进行计算。最后获得血清 UA 的临界值以预测 TAU 高危人群。TAU 和 PSP、AD 和 FTD 亚组的血清 UA 水平相似，明显低于 CTL。线性回归显示 UA 与 TAU（OR=0.610）、PSP（OR=0.626）、AD（OR=0.685）和 FTD（OR=0.577）呈负相关。4.35mg/dl 的临界值（AUC=0.655）可将 TAU 与 CTL 区分开来，但特异性和敏感性较差。血清 UA 浓度低是不同 tau 病（PSP、FTD 和 AD）的共同危险因素。这些发现可能是针对这群严重神经退行性疾病的预防策略或新的治疗方法的起点。
