Unrecognized depression in community-dwelling elderly persons in Istanbul

Objective: Depression, one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders, causes disability and reduces quality of life. Rates of clinical depression in community samples of older adults range between 1-16 %. Most studies of old age depression have been conducted in developed countries. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depressive disorders among Turkish elderly in an urban community

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype in a Turkish population with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Three genes are known that, when mutated, cause early-onset AD: β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene, presenilin-1 (PS1) gene and pre-senilin-2 (PS2) gene. The majority of AD cases, however, are late-onset and sporadic, occuring in families in whom the inheritance pattern is unclear. This suggests a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors underlying the etiology of the disease. The Apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-E4 allele is the most common genetic determinant of susceptibility to late-onset AD (LOAD). The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of the three common ApoE alleles in a Turkish population with AD, in comparison with non AD elderly controls. One thousand and seventeen randomly selected individuals over the age of 70 years were screened with a validated Turkish version of the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), and 281 selected subjects underwent detailed clinical examination. Of these, 57 were diagnosed as probable AD subjects and 11 as possible AD subjects. One hundred and twenty-seven subjects were considered to be cognitively normal and were used as controls. The frequencies of the E2 and E4 alleles in the Turkish population were among the lowest reported worldwide, and different from those of other Caucasian populations. Despite its overall low frequency, the E4 allele was almost twice as frequent in patients with AD, compared to controls. Multivariate analyses and odds ratios (OR) revealed that carrying at least one E4 allele constitutes a significant risk factor in sporadic AD in the Turkish population

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene Val66Met polymorphism and cognitive function in obsessive-compulsive disorder

In the present study, we have tested the hypothesis that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene Val66Met polymorphism is associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and also investigated the association between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and the performance on tests measuring executive functions in a sample of patients with OCD. A total of 100 patients diagnosed with OCD according to DSM-IV criteria and 110 control subjects were included in this study. Single nucleotide polymorphism (G/A) leading to Val to Met substitution at codon 66 in BDNF was screened in the DNA samples of all participants. The genotype frequencies of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism were compared in OCD patients and healthy controls. The four subgroups of OCD and healthy control subjects, determined according to being Val homozygous or carrying a Met allele, were also compared according to their performance in a battery of neuropsychological tests of executive functions and verbal memory. There was no significant difference for the allele and genotype distributions of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism between the OCD and healthy control groups. Compared to the other three subgroups, OCD-Met carriers were slower on Trail-Making Test part A (TMT A), part B (TMT B) score and its speed-corrected score (TMT B-A). OCD-Met carriers had also poor performance on verbal fluency tasks and several CVLT measures compared only to the healthy control-Met carriers. These results demonstrate that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism does not appear to be a risk factor for OCD. However, the presence of a BDNF Met allele, which is a known attenuator of BDNF activity, may be associated with a poorer executive functioning in OCD. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Neuropsychiatric outcomes and caregiver distress in primary progressive aphasia

Mustafa Seckin has been supported by a grant from the EC-FP7 co-funded Brain Circulation Scheme (116C020).Background: In this study, we aimed to outline the neuropsychiatric consequences of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and to understand how neuropsychiatric symptomatology affects distress in caregivers. Methods: The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) including the distress index (NPI-Distress) was used. Additional information about the caregiver burden was obtained using Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). NPI, NPI-Distress, and ZBI data from 17 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PPA were compared with 10 stroke aphasia patients. Neuropsychiatric symptomatology was investigated based on three clusters; Mood, Frontal/Comportmental, and Psychotic/Disruptive. Additionally, the Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADLQ) was used to outline the functional impairment. Twelve healthy controls were included to compare the neurocognitive test scores with PPA and stroke aphasia groups. Results: A greater number of neuropsychiatric symptoms were observed in the PPA group compared to the stroke aphasia group. The number of symptoms in Mood, and Frontal/Comportmental clusters were greater than the number of symptoms in Psychotic/Disruptive clusters in the PPA group, whereas no significant relationship between the number of symptoms and symptom clusters was found in the stroke aphasia group. In the PPA group, a strong correlation was found between the NPI-Frequency × Severity scores and the NPI-Distress scores. Moreover, the NPI-Distress scores in the PPA group strongly correlated with the ZBI scores. Scores for anxiety, irritability/lability, and apathy had a stronger correlation with the NPI-Distress scores compared to the other NPI symptoms. The Communication subscale was the most impaired domain in the PPA group. Travel, and Employment and Recreation subscales showed greater functional impairment in the stroke aphasia group compared to the PPA group. Conclusions: Neuropsychiatric symptoms in PPA in our study were more frequent than previously reported. Furthermore, the distress index of the NPI was not only correlated with the severity of the neuropsychiatric symptoms but also reflected the overall burden on the caregivers in the PPA group.Publisher's VersionQ4WOS:000871422800001PMID: 3627349