Alzheimer Disease: Na HR

Choi SH, Kim SY, Na HR, Kim BK, Yang DW, Kwon JC, Park MY. · Department of Neurology, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, South Korea. · Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. · Pubmed #18401173 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIMS: The possible influence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype on the response to acetylcholinesterase inhibitor therapy in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a matter of controversy. In order to address this issue, we investigated the effects of ApoE genotype on the clinical response to donepezil in patients with mild to moderate AD. METHODS: An open study was carried out in 51 patients with probable AD who were treated with 5-10 mg of donepezil per day for 48 weeks. RESULTS: Eighteen (35.3%) of the 51 patients had 1 or 2 ApoE epsilon4 alleles. ApoE epsilon4 carriers with AD showed a mean 1.1-point increase from the baseline score of 23.9 on the 70-point Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Component at 48 weeks, while the ApoE epsilon4 noncarrier group showed a 3.1-point increase from the baseline score of 22.5 (p = 0.03). The ApoE epsilon4 carrier group exhibited a mean 0.13-point worsening from the baseline score of 0.97 on the Korean Instrumental Activities of Daily Living at 48 weeks, while the ApoE epsilon4 noncarrier group exhibited a 0.17-point worsening from the baseline score of 0.64 (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: AD patients who carry the ApoE epsilon4 allele may respond more favorably to donepezil than epsilon4 noncarriers.

Na HR, Lee SH, Lee JS, Doody RS, Kim SY. · Department of Neurology, Bobath Memorial Hospital, Seongnam, Korea. · Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. · Pubmed #19145080 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Baylor Profound Mental Status Examination (BPMSE) was modeled to provide a brief patient-derived rating scale for staging and tracking patients with severe stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: The BPMSE was administered to 91 patients with probable AD (Korean version of the MMSE less than 16) according to the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria. The patients were also evaluated using the Korean version of the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB-Ko), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), Barthel Activities of Daily Living (B-ADL), the Korean version of the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (K-IADL), the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI) and the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST). RESULTS: There were significant correlations between the BPMSE- Ko and K-MMSE scores (r = 0.66, p < 0.001) and between the BPMSE-Ko and SIB-Ko scores (r = 0.83, p < 0.001). The BPMSE-Ko correlated with the CDR, GDS, B-ADL, K-IADL, K-NPI and FAST scores (p < 0.001). The BPMSE-Ko scores continued to decline even after the K-MMSE reached values near 0. CONCLUSIONS: The BPMSE-Ko is a time efficient and useful tool to measure cognitive function in patients with severe AD.

Jung SM, Lee K, Lee JW, Namkoong H, Kim HK, Kim S, Na HR, Ha SA, Kim JR, Ko J, Kim JW. · Molecular Genetic Laboratory, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 137-040, Republic of Korea. · Neurosci Lett. · Pubmed #18378077 No free full text.

Abstract: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be of valuable for exploring protein markers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The prospect of early detection and treatment, to slow progression, holds hope for aging populations with increased average lifespan. The aim of the present study was to investigate candidate CSF biological markers in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD and compare them with age-matched normal control subjects. In this report, we applied proteomics approaches to analyze 60 CSF samples derived from patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as MCI and AD. We classified patients by three groups: normal controls without cognitive dysfunction, MCI and AD. The AD group was subdivided into three groups by clinical severity according to clinical dementia rating (CDR), a well known clinical scale for dementia. We demonstrated a gradual decrease or absent of plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP) and haptoglobin precursor allele 1 in CSF from patients with MCI and AD compared to the age-matched normal subjects. Moreover, expression levels of both RBP and haptoglobin precursor allele 1 were observed to be very high in age-matched normal subjects. In contrast, the RBP and haptoglobin precursor allele 1 were much decreased in the MCI group; those expressions were more weak or absent in AD group, and correlated with disease severity and progression. These findings suggest that the CSF levels of both RBP and haptoglobin precursor allele 1 may be candidate biomarkers for the progression of normal to MCI to AD.

Lee JW, Namkoong H, Kim HK, Kim S, Hwang DW, Na HR, Ha SA, Kim JR, Kim JW. · Department of Neurology, Bobath Memorial Hospital, Bundang-Gu, Seongnam, Gyungki-do, Korea. <> · BMC Neurol. · Pubmed #17565664 links to  free full text

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be valuable for exploring protein markers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The prospect of early detection and treatment, to slow progression, holds hope for aging populations with increased average lifespan. The aim of the present study was to investigate candidate CSF biological markers in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD and compare them with age-matched normal control subjects. METHODS: We applied proteomics approaches to analyze CSF samples derived from 27 patients with AD, 3 subjects with MCI and 30 controls. The AD group was subdivided into three groups by clinical severity according to clinical dementia rating (CDR), a well known clinical scale for dementia. RESULTS: We demonstrated an elevated level of fibrinogen gamma-A chain precursor protein in CSF from patients with mild cognitive impairment and AD compared to the age-matched normal subjects. Moreover, its expression was more prominent in the AD group than in the MCI and correlated with disease severity and progression. In contrast, fibrinogen gamma-A chain precursor protein was detected very low in the age-matched normal group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the CSF level of fibrinogen gamma-A chain precursor may be a candidate biomarker for AD.