Can apolipoproteins and complement factors be biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in elderly persons. Quick diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease will allow treatments that may help slow its progression. The correlation between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters and progression of Alzheimer's disease is higher than and independent of other risk factors. We have compared sixteen CSF samples of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease patients with non demented subjects using proteomics approach. Apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein J, complement C4b, hemopexin and complement factor B were identified as differentially expressed proteins. Pathway analyses show that these proteins have interacting partners in Alzheimer's and apoptotic pathways. The possible roles of these proteins in relation to the disease are discussed.