Reader response: Effects of acute sleep loss on diurnal plasma dynamics of CNS health biomarkers in young men
WeiLiu, Neurosurgeon, Weihai Municipal Hospital
Dong-YanYu, Physician, Weihai Third Municipal Hospital
Submitted January 18, 2020
Benedict et al.1 demonstrated that acute sleep loss results in increased blood levels of total tau. They suggested that those changes provide evidence that sleep loss may increase risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease.1 However, in their study, they did not discriminate different roles of tau in normal conditions and in pathologic processes. Because the subjects in the study were all healthy young men, tau measured in the study should be under normal conditions. Besides, tau has many types of posttranslational modifications,2 which were not described in the study. It is not persuasive to draw the conclusion only by levels of total tau. In fact, a study demonstrated that high levels of truncated tau in blood were associated with lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease.3 There is a possibility that increased tau might be a protective factor, to antagonize some detrimental factors after sleep loss or in Alzheimer disease. However, the authors did not demonstrate the possible detrimental factors. Besides, the authors selectively chose the positive result (tau) but neglected the negative result (Aβ40, Aβ42). Therefore, it should be cautious to draw the conclusion only depending on blood levels of total tau.
Disclosure
The authors report no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
References
Benedict C, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Cedernaes J. Effects of acute sleep loss on diurnal plasma dynamics of CNS health biomarkers in young men. Neurology 2020 Epub Jan 8.
Tapia-Rojas C, Cabezas-Opazo F, Deaton CA, et al. It's all about tau. Prog Neurobiol 2019;175:54–76.
Neergaard JS, Dragsbaek K, Christiansen C, et al. Two novel blood-based biomarker candidates measuring degradation of tau are associated with dementia: A prospective study. PLoS One 2018;13:e0194802
Benedict et al.1 demonstrated that acute sleep loss results in increased blood levels of total tau. They suggested that those changes provide evidence that sleep loss may increase risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease.1 However, in their study, they did not discriminate different roles of tau in normal conditions and in pathologic processes. Because the subjects in the study were all healthy young men, tau measured in the study should be under normal conditions. Besides, tau has many types of posttranslational modifications,2 which were not described in the study. It is not persuasive to draw the conclusion only by levels of total tau. In fact, a study demonstrated that high levels of truncated tau in blood were associated with lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease.3 There is a possibility that increased tau might be a protective factor, to antagonize some detrimental factors after sleep loss or in Alzheimer disease. However, the authors did not demonstrate the possible detrimental factors. Besides, the authors selectively chose the positive result (tau) but neglected the negative result (Aβ40, Aβ42). Therefore, it should be cautious to draw the conclusion only depending on blood levels of total tau.
Disclosure
The authors report no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
References