Alzheimer Disease: Hagnelius NO

Löf-Ohlin ZM, Hagnelius NO, Nilsson TK. · Department of Clinical Chemistry, Orebro University Hospital, Sweden. · Neuroreport. · Pubmed #18628664 No free full text.

Abstract: Telomeres generally shorten with age. An accelerated shortening of the telomeres has been linked to several age-related disorders. We hypothesized that the relative length of telomeres could discriminate between patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). A quantitative real-time PCR method was used to calculate the relative telomere length in 76 age-matched and sex-matched, newly diagnosed late-onset AD or VaD patients recruited from our Memory Unit. No significant difference was found in the relative telomere length between AD and VaD cases neither in men (P=0.315) nor women (P=0.12). Thus, we could not confirm that the length of telomeres would predict which form of dementia, late-onset AD or VaD that develops.

Hagnelius NO, Wahlund LO, Nilsson TK. · Department of Geriatrics, Orebro University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden. · Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. · Pubmed #18463447 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Folate depletion has been implicated as a risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders. We hypothesized that transport of folate to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compartment could be involved in the pathophysiology of these disorders. METHODS: The CSF/serum folate gradient (R(CSF/S)) was studied in 205 subjects with suspected cognitive disorder. Its relation to clinical and biochemical indices, including the integrity of the blood-CSF barrier, were characterized. RESULTS: In subjects who were diagnosed as nondemented (ND) the mean R(CSF/S )+/- SD was 2.46 +/- 0.62 versus 2.09 +/- 0.67 (p = 0.008) in the dementia subgroup with a vascular component (VaD + mixed). The ND subgroup had higher CSF folate (p = 0.001) and lower serum homocysteine values (p = 0.001) than the VaD + mixed subgroup. The folate gradient R(CSF/S) was negatively correlated with serum folate (p < 0.001, R(2) = 0.518) and to the albumin ratio, a blood-CSF barrier biomarker (beta = -0.235). The Alzheimer patients had R(CSF/S) and albumin ratios similar to the ND subjects. CONCLUSION: The R(CSF/S) was significantly lower in the VaD + mixed dementia subgroup, suggestive of a defect in the transport of folate over the choroid plexus that seems to be characteristic of, and limited to, the VaD + mixed dementia subgroup.

Simonsen AH, McGuire J, Podust VN, Hagnelius NO, Nilsson TK, Kapaki E, Vassilopoulos D, Waldemar G. · Biomarker Discovery Center Facility, Ciphergen Biosystems Inc., Copenhagen, Denmark. · Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. · Pubmed #17971664 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: An early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is important in order to initiate symptomatic treatment with currently approved drugs and will be of even greater importance with the advent of disease-modifying compounds. METHODS: Protein profiles of human cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with AD (n = 85), frontotemporal dementia (n = 20), and healthy controls (n = 32) were analyzed by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry to verify previously discovered biomarkers. RESULTS: We verified 15 protein biomarkers that were able to differentiate between AD and controls, and 7 of these 15 markers also differentiated AD from FTD. CONCLUSION: A panel of cerebrospinal fluid protein markers was verified by a proteomics technology which may potentially improve the accuracy of the AD diagnosis.