Low cerebrospinal fluid concentration of brain-specific protein D2 in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus

Abstract The synaptic membrane glycoprotein D2 was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma in 13 patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), in 14 patients with primary degenerative dementia of Alzheimer type (PDD), and in 24 patients without evidence of organic nervous disease (controls). Mean CSF D2 concentration was significantly lower in NPH patients: 299 ± 48 ng/ml (SEM) ( P Determination of CSF D2 concentrations might be of diagnostic value in discrimination between patients with NPH and PDD patients with enlarged ventricles associated with diffuse brain atrophy.