Total glutamine synthetase levels in cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer's disease patients are unchanged

Decreased cerebral protein and activity levels of glutamine synthetase (GS) have been reported for Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Using a recently established method, we quantified total GS levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from AD patients and control subjects. Furthermore, we investigated if total GS levels in CSF could differentiate AD from frontotemperal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies patients. As we found no significantly altered total GS levels in any of the patient groups compared with control subjects, we conclude that levels of total GS in CSF have no diagnostic value for AD, dementia with Lewy bodies, or frontotemperal dementia.