Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference statement: preventing alzheimer disease and cognitive decline.

Daviglus ML, Bell CC, Berrettini W, Bowen PE, Connolly ES, Cox NJ, Dunbar-Jacob JM, Granieri EC, Hunt G, McGarry K, Patel D, Potosky AL, Sanders-Bush E, Silberberg D, Trevisan M

Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.

The National Institute on Aging and the Office of Medical Applications of Research of the National Institutes of Health convened a State-of-the-Science Conference on 26-28 April 2010 to assess the available scientific evidence on prevention of cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease. This article provides the panel's assessment of the available evidence.

Published 3 August 2010 in Ann Intern Med, 153(3): 176-81.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 3 August 2010:

Systematic review: factors associated with risk for and possible prevention of cognitive decline in later life.   Ann Intern Med, 153(3): 182-93.

BACKGROUND: Many biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors may contribute to the delay or prevention of cognitive decline. PURPOSE: To summarize evidence about putative risk and protective factors for cognitive decline in older adults and the effects of interventions for preserving cognition. DATA SOURCES: English-language publications in MEDLINE, HuGEpedia, AlzGene, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from 1984 through 27 October 2009. STUDY SELECTION: Observational ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 27 July 2010:

Trafficking CD11b-positive blood cells deliver therapeutic genes to the brain of amyloid-depositing transgenic mice.   J Neurosci, 30(29): 9651-8.

A major question for gene therapy in brain concerns methods to administer therapeutic genes in a uniform manner over major portions of the brain. A second question in neuroimmunology concerns the extent to which monocytes migrate to the CNS in degenerative disorders. Here we show that CD11b+ cells (largely monocytes) isolated from the bone marrow of GFP (green fluorescent protein)-expressing donors spontaneously home to compacted amyloid plaques in the brain. Injections of these cells as a ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Vascular and degenerative processes differentially affect regional interhemispheric connections in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer disease.   Stroke, 41(8): 1791-7.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite the critical importance of the corpus callosum (CC) to the connection between brain hemispheres, little is known about the independent contribution of degenerative and vascular processes to regional changes in the microstructural integrity of the CC. Here, we examine these changes in subjects with mild cognitive impairment, with Alzheimer disease, and in cognitively normal elderly adults. METHODS: We used 3-dimensional brain MRI with diffusion tensor imaging in ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 20 July 2010:

Comparing predictors of conversion and decline in mild cognitive impairment.   Neurology, 75(3): 230-8.

OBJECTIVE: A variety of measurements have been individually linked to decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but the identification of optimal markers for predicting disease progression remains unresolved. The goal of this study was to evaluate the prognostic ability of genetic, CSF, neuroimaging, and cognitive measurements obtained in the same participants. METHODS: APOE epsilon4 allele frequency, CSF proteins (Abeta(1-42), total tau, hyperphosphorylated tau [p-tau(181p)]), glucose ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 19 July 2010:

Effects of the English (H6R) and Tottori (D7N) familial Alzheimer disease mutations on amyloid beta-protein assembly and toxicity.   J Biol Chem, 285(30): 23186-97.

Mutations in the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) precursor gene cause autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease in a number of kindreds. In two such kindreds, the English and the Tottori, the mutations produce amyloid beta-proteins containing amino acid substitutions, H6R and D7N, respectively, at the peptide N terminus. To elucidate the structural and biological effects of the mutations, we began by examining monomer conformational dynamics and oligomerization. Relative to their wild type homologues, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 13 July 2010:

Serial MRI and CSF biomarkers in normal aging, MCI, and AD.   Neurology, 75(2): 143-51.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the annual change in MRI and CSF biomarkers in cognitively normal (CN), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and Alzheimer disease (AD). Comparisons were based on intergroup discrimination, correlation with concurrent cognitive/functional changes, relationships to APOE genotype, and sample sizes for clinical trials. METHODS: We used data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study consisting of CN, aMCI, and AD cohorts with both baseline and 12-month ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Head circumference, atrophy, and cognition: implications for brain reserve in Alzheimer disease.   Neurology, 75(2): 137-42.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and epidemiologic studies suggest that patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) with larger head circumference have better cognitive performance at the same level of brain pathology than subjects with smaller head circumference. METHODS: A total of 270 patients with AD participating in the Multi-Institutional Research in Alzheimer's Genetic Epidemiology (MIRAGE) study underwent cognitive testing, APOE genotyping, and MRI of the brain in a cross-sectional study. Linear ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alzheimer's Disease published 12 July 2010:

The relation of regional cerebral perfusion and atrophy in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer's dementia.   Psychiatry Res, 183(1): 44-51.

The spatial and temporal relations between regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and brain volume (rVOL) changes in incipient and early Alzheimer's dementia (AD) are not fully understood. The participants comprised 30 subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 15 with mild AD who were examined using structural and perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 1.5 Tesla. Hippocampus and amygdala volumes were measured by manual volumetry. A region-of-interest co-localisation method ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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