Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of progressive dementia and is characterized by memory impairments, neuronal death, and neuroinflammation. AD-related pathophysiology is caused primarily by the presence of amyloid-β oligomers (AβO). Recently, an increased focus has been directed toward natural compounds or medicinal extracts for the treatment of AD. ⋯ BE also significantly inhibited microgliosis and astrogliosis following intra-hippocampal AβO injections in mice. Furthermore, BE significantly attenuated the release of nitric oxide from microglia and reduced AβO-induced S100-β cytokine release from activated astrocytes. These results suggest that BE may be a candidate agent for the treatment of AD.
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Significant differences exist in demographic characteristics between responders and non-responders in population-based studies on mental health and cognitive status, but much less is known regarding differences in the prevalence of dementia and cognitive dysfunction between them. Here we compared the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment between early responders of a mass brain function examination and delayed responders (non-responders of the mass brain function examination) in a survey of elderly Japanese citizens (≥65 years) to evaluate non-responder bias. All residents in an area of Nakajima, Japan, were considered as potential candidates (n = 783). ⋯ Delayed responders (n = 320) were significantly older and less educated than the early responders (n = 307). The delayed responders also exhibited a higher frequency of dementia and mild cognitive impairment than the early responders, even when the groups were restricted to the age group 65-89 years. Our results suggest that population-based studies likely underestimate the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment, especially if the participation rate is low.
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The frequency and clinical and pathological characteristics associated with the Gly206Ala presenilin 1 (PSEN1) mutation in Puerto Rican and non-Puerto Rican Hispanics were evaluated at the University of Pennsylvania's Alzheimer's Disease Center. DNAs from all cohort subjects were genotyped for the Gly206Ala PSEN1 mutation. Carriers and non-carriers with neurodegenerative disease dementias were compared for demographic, clinical, psychometric, and biomarker variables. ⋯ Neuropathological examination in one subject revealed severe, widespread plaque and tangle pathology without other meaningful disease lesions. The PSEN1 Gly206Ala mutation is notably frequent in unrelated Puerto Rican immigrants with dementia in Philadelphia. Considered together with the increased prevalence and mortality of AD reported in Puerto Rico, these high rates may reflect hereditary risk concentrated in the island which warrants further study.
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The rs75932628-T variant of the gene encoding the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) has recently been identified as a rare risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study we examined the association between TREM2 exon 2 variants and early-onset AD in a sample of Caucasian subjects of French origin including 726 patients with age of onset ≤65 years and 783 controls. Only the rs75932628-T variant (predicted to cause an R47H substitution) conferred a significant risk for early-onset AD (OR, 4.07; 95% CI, 1.3 to 16.9; p = 0.009). These results confirm the association between this variant and AD and underline its involvement in early-onset cases.
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Many cognitive screening instruments have been developed during the last decades to detect mild cognitive dysfunction and dementia, and there is an ongoing discussion as to which tool should be used in which setting and which challenges have to be considered. Among other aspects, dependence on age is a recognized problem in screening tools which still has not found its way into common scoring procedures. Another aspect which has been handled very heterogeneously is which domain is represented in which proportion in the total score. ⋯ In this review, four cognitive screening tools that all follow a common, stringent concept and pay regard to some critical aspects are described: the DemTect, a "generic" tool; the PANDA for Parkinson's disease patients; the EASY, a non-verbal, culture-fair screening test for patients with migration background; and the MUSIC for patients with multiple sclerosis. All of these screening instruments have an age-correction, provide a total score in which the different subtests are weighted according to their individual sensitivity and specificity, and include tasks that are specifically aligned to the cognitive profile of the target group, including the EASY with non-verbal, culture-fair tasks to overcome language and cultural barriers. The development, main characteristics, data, and limitations of these tools are presented and discussed against the background of the current landscape of cognitive screening tools.