Predictors of the Progression of Dementia Severity in Brazilian Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia

Introduction. This study evaluates the progression of dementia and identifies prognostic risk factors for dementia. Methods. A group of 80 Brazilian community residents with dementia (34 with Alzheimer's disease and 46 with vascular dementia) was assessed over the course of 2 years. Data were analyzed with Cox regression survival analysis. Results. The data showed that education predicted cognitive decline (HR = 1.2; P < .05) when analyzed without controlling for vascular risk factors. After the inclusion of vascular risk factors, education (HR = 1.32; P < .05) and hypertension were predictive for cognitive decline (HR = 38; P < .05), and Alzheimer's disease diagnosis was borderline predictive (P = .055). Conclusion. Vascular risk factors interacted with the diagnosis of vascular dementia. Education was a strong predictor of decline

Serum levels of S100B and NSE proteins in Alzheimer's disease patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease is the most common dementia in the elderly, and the potential of peripheral biochemical markers as complementary tools in the neuropsychiatric evaluation of these patients has claimed further attention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated serum levels of S100B and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in 54 mild, moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and in 66 community-dwelling elderly. AD patients met the probable NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Severity of dementia was ascertained by the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, cognitive function by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and neuroimage findings with magnetic resonance imaging. Serum was obtained from all individuals and frozen at -70°C until analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By comparing both groups, serum S100B levels were lower in AD group, while serum NSE levels were the same both groups. In AD patients, S100B levels were positively correlated with CDR scores (rho = 0.269; p = 0.049) and negatively correlated with MMSE scores (rho = -0.33; <it>P </it>= 0.048). NSE levels decreased in AD patients with higher levels of brain atrophy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings suggest that serum levels of S100B may be a marker for brain functional condition and serum NSE levels may be a marker for morphological status in AD.</p

Schizophrenia in males of cognitive performance: discriminative and diagnostic values

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the discriminative and diagnostic values of neuropsychological tests for identifying schizophrenia patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with 36 male schizophrenia outpatients and 72 healthy matched volunteers was carried out. Participants underwent the following neuropsychological tests: Wisconsin Card Sorting test, Verbal Fluency, Stroop test, Mini Mental State Examination, and Spatial Recognition Span. Sensitivity and specificity estimated the diagnostic value of tests with cutoffs obtained using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. The latent class model (diagnosis of schizophrenia) was used as gold standard. RESULTS: Although patients presented lower scores in most tests, the highest canonical function for the discriminant analysis was 0.57 (Verbal Fluency M). The best sensitivity and specificity were obtained in the Verbal Fluency M test (75 and 65, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The neuropsychological tests showed moderate diagnostic value for the identification of schizophrenia patients. These findings suggested that the cognitive impairment measured by these tests might not be homogeneous among schizophrenia patients