14-3-3 in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with variant and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease measured using capture assay able to detect low levels of 14-3-3 protein

A protein capture assay was used to measure 14-3-3 (gamma-isoform) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with either variant or sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The results were compared with those obtained using Western blotting. Elevated levels of 14-3-3gamma were found in 58% of variant CJD (vCJD) patients and 82% of sporadic CJD (spCJD) patients using the protein capture assay. Using a Western blotting technique, the presence of CSF 14-3-3gamma was detected in 58% of vCJD patients and in 89% of spCJD patients. When the results from the protein capture assay and the Western blot were combined, 14-3-3gamma was detected in 77% of vCJD patients and in 91% of spCJD patients. These results suggest that although analysis of CSF 14-3-3 is not as useful in vCJD as it is in the sporadic form of the disease, a combination of these two techniques results in increased sensitivity of 14-3-3 for the diagnosis of vCJD. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.