The discriminative capacity of CSF β-amyloid 42 and Tau in neurodegenerative diseases in the Chinese population.

•CSF Aβ42 and tau are discriminative biomarkers in distinguishing AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.•Elevated values of CSF tau in FTD may not tell difference from that in AD.•CSF tau related biomarkers significantly elevated in the FTD and MSA groups compared to the control group.•CSF Aβ42 increased remarkably in the SCA3, HD and ALS groups with high specificity.