Serum <scp>Beta‐Synuclein</scp> Is Higher in Down Syndrome and Precedes Rise of <scp>pTau181</scp>
Patrick Oeckl, Olivia Wagemann, Steffen Halbgebauer, Sarah Anderl‐Straub, Georg Nuebling, Catharina Prix, Sandra Loosli, Elisabeth Wlasich, Adrian Danek, Petra Steinacker, Albert C. Ludolph, Johannes Levin, Markus Otto
Abstract
This exploratory case-control study investigates the synaptic marker beta-synuclein in serum and plasma pTau181 in adults with Down syndrome (DS) with (sDS, n = 14) and without (aDS, n = 47) clinical symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) as well as euploid controls (n = 23). Beta-synuclein was higher in aDS and more pronounced in sDS (p < 0.0001), whereas pTau181 was only higher in sDS (p < 0.0001). Both markers showed good discriminatory power (area under the curve > 0.90) to distinguish symptomatic from asymptomatic AD. The data indicate that synaptic alterations belong to the earliest AD-associated events in DS and highlight the value of serum beta-synuclein as a potential early marker of AD. ANN NEUROL 2022;92:6-10.