Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Since the emergence of variant CJD (vCJD) vigilance concerning the diseaseʹs incidence has increased and the interest in accurate in vivo diagnosis has augmented. So far, a large number of biomarkers has been investigated as aid in the differential diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (sCJD) and vCJD. These include, among others, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), microtubuli associated protein Tau, S-100β, amyloid-beta (Aβ1–42) and the 14-3-3 protein. Multiple studies have confirmed that CSF detection of 14-3-3 protein by Western blot was the best single biomarker for sCJD with an average sensitivity and specificity of 92%. Also, in genetic and iatrogenic CJD (iCJD) patients with an average disease duration of less than 1 year, 14-3-3 is the best differential biomarker. Unfortunately, the 14-3-3 protein has a lower sensitivity if the disease duration exceeds beyond 1 year in both sporadic CJD and other CJD types (vCJD, and specific genetic or iatrogenic CJD types).