Serum neurofilament light chain in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Objective: To determine the association of serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) with functional deterioration and brain atrophy during follow-up of patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).

Methods: Blood NfL levels from 74 patients with bvFTD, 26 with Alzheimer disease (AD), 17 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 15 healthy controls (Con) at baseline and follow-up were determined and analyzed for the diagnostic potential in relation to functional assessment (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes [CDR-SOB], frontotemporal lobar degeneration-related CDR-SOB, Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]) and brain volumetry.

Results: At baseline, serum NfL level correlated with CSF NfL (bvFTD = 0.

Chitotriosidase (CHIT1) is increased in microglia and macrophages in spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cerebrospinal fluid levels correlate with disease severity and progression.

Objectives: Neurochemical markers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that reflect underlying disease mechanisms might help in diagnosis, staging and prediction of outcome. We aimed at determining the origin and differential diagnostic and prognostic potential of the putative marker of microglial activation chitotriosidase (CHIT1).

Methods: Altogether 316 patients were included, comprising patients with sporadic ALS, ALS mimics (disease controls (DCo)), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy controls (Con).

Neurofilament as a blood marker for diagnosis and monitoring of primary progressive aphasias.

Objective: To assess the utility of serum neurofilament for diagnosis and monitoring of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants.

Methods: We investigated neurofilament light chain (NF-L) levels in blood of 99 patients with PPA (40 with nonfluent variant PPA [nfvPPA], 38 with semantic variant PPA [svPPA], 21 with logopenic variant PPA [lvPPA]) and compared diagnostic performance with that reached by CSF NF-L, phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H), β-amyloid (Aβ), tau, and phosphorylated tau. The longitudinal change of blood NF-L levels was measured and analyzed for correlation with functional decline and brain atrophy.

Effect of APOE genotype on amyloid plaque load and gray matter volume in Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To examine the influence of the APOE genotype on levels of beta-amyloid (Abeta) plaque load and atrophy in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) in vivo.

Methods: Thirty-two patients with moderate AD were divided into carriers and noncarriers of the epsilon4 allele. These groups were matched for age, disease duration, education, and cognitive impairment.

["Homo neurobiologicus"--anthropological concepts in modern psychiatry].

The workings of the human brain can now be studied with a large arsenal of modern technical tools which lead us far beyond traditional realms of philosophical self-reflection and conventional experimental psychology. The black box of the human mind has become illuminated with the following consequences: (1) diagnosis and monitoring of mental and neurological diseases have improved significantly; and (2) early interpretations of the brain's workings as we can now see it, influence the way we think and feel about ourselves. They form an inevitable part of modern anthropology, particularly in its applied forms, e.

Pest controllers: a high-risk group for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)?

Introduction: Based on the assumption that professional groups with frequent chemical exposure are at an increased risk for developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), a sample of 45 professional pest controllers was investigated.

Methods: The examination of the pest controllers consisted of a physical and laboratory examination with urine screening for pyrethroid metabolites, a psychiatric interview, a neuropsychological test battery, and a chemical sensitivity questionnaire.

Results: Persistent or serious work related health problems and chemical sensitivity were not reported.

No association of common VCP variants with sporadic frontotemporal dementia.

Mutations in the gene for valosin containing protein (VCP) cause autosomal dominant inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget disease and frontotemporal dementia (IBMPFD). To investigate the role of this novel gene in sporadic forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), we genotyped 27 single nucleotide polymorphisms covering the entire VCP genomic region in 198 patients with sporadic FTD and 184 matched controls from Germany. No significant association could be demonstrated.

No association of TDP-43 with sporadic frontotemporal dementia.

A hyperphosphorylated, ubiquitinated form of TDP-43, known as pathologic TDP-43, was shown to be a central component of ubiquitin-positive, tau-negative and alpha-synuclein-negative inclusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-U) and amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To investigate the role of the TDP-43 gene in sporadic forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), we genotyped 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms covering the entire TDP-43 genomic region, including the MASP2 gene in 173 patients with sporadic FTD (including 7 patients that were diagnosed with FTD and ALS) and 184 matched controls from Germany. Although we could observe a weak trend towards a potential disease association in a few FTD/ALS patients, no significant association with sporadic FTD could be demonstrated.

The Ekman 60 Faces Test as a diagnostic instrument in frontotemporal dementia.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is characterized by dramatic changes of personality and behaviour. Impaired ability of emotional processing could contribute to these symptoms, as it may lead to misinterpretation of emotional cues that would normally guide behaviour. The aim of the present study was to investigate if the Ekman 60 Faces Test, an instrument to test the recognition of basic facial emotions, enables the differentiation between patients with mild FTD and cognitively healthy subjects (HC).

Association analysis of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism located within the linkage region on chromosome 10 and Alzheimer's disease.

Epidemiological studies identified a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) among subjects with elevated cholesterol levels. This association may be caused by a modulation of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing in response to the cellular cholesterol content. High cholesterol levels may favor the amyloidogenic pathway by inhibition of the alpha-secretase probably leading to elevated beta-Amyloid (Abeta) production.

Capgras' delusion: an example of coalescent psychodynamic and organic factors.

The case of a 33-year-old woman with a right hemisphere lesion after subarachnoid bleed is reported. She developed the false belief that her husband, her mother, her children, and herself had been replaced by doubles after the birth of her fourth daughter. The multifactorial etiology of the Capgras delusion is discussed with a brief review of the literature.

Multiinfarct and Alzheimer-type dementia investigated by transcranial Doppler sonography.

Primary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type and multiinfarct dementia exhibit differences in cerebrovascular blood flow velocity profiles, which were investigated by transcranial Doppler sonography. The pulsatility indices, as angle-independent parameters of peripheral vascular resistence, measured in middle cerebral and basilar arteries of patients with multiinfarct dementia were significantly increased (p less than 0.005) compared with cases of primary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type and with healthy age-matched controls.