Plasma soluble neuregulin-1 as a diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease

• The levels of sNRG-1 were highly increased in the plasma of the AD patients compared with the healthy control subjects.
• The sNRG-1 level of the moderate AD group was significantly higher than that of the healthy control subjects.
• There was no significant difference between the levels of sNRG-1 of the females and the males.
• The level of Aβ, S100a9 or α-Syn in the plasma of the AD patients was not higher than that of the healthy control subjects.

To identify some apparent biomarker candidates for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, we investigated whether there would be a significant difference between the levels of the plasma proteins of AD patients and healthy people. A total of 115 subjects were enrolled, 60 individuals with AD and 55 healthy controls. There was a statistical difference in the mini-mental status exam (MMSE) scores and the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scores between the two groups. We used the immunoblotting assay to analyze several plasma proteins in the subjects. Amyloid-β (Aβ), S100a9, and soluble neuregulin-1 (sNRG-1), including α-synuclein (α-Syn) as a detection control were detected in the plasma samples. Unlike Aβ, S100a9 and α-Syn, the level of sNRG-1 of the AD patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy control subjects. The AD patients were divided into mild and moderate groups according to their MMSE and CDR scores. We found a significant correlation between the level of sNRG-1 and MMSE scores. The sNRG-1 level was significantly higher in mild AD patients as well as in moderate AD patients compared with that of the control subjects. These new findings indicate that increased plasma sNRG-1 levels might be a novel and reliable biological marker for the early diagnosis of AD.