To assess the contribution of transcriptional regulation on elevated caspase-2 protein levels in dementia, we used quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR) to measure mRNA levels of the pro-apoptotic long form, caspase-2L, and the anti-apoptotic short form, caspase-2S, in samples of patients with AD, MCI, LBD and HD, and controls. Here, CASP2 is linked to Alzheimer disease.