|
||| ELEVATED
HOMOCYSTEINE ASSOCIATED WITH DOUBLING OF
WOMEN'S ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RISK |
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -
JANO · 17 Noviembre 2009
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A thesis composed by Dr Dimitri Zylberstein
at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University
of Gothenburg, Sweden links high levels
of homocysteine in women with twice the
risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared
to those with low levels.
Dr Zylberstein reports the results of a
study involving participants in the Prospective
Population Study of Women in Gothenburg,
which enrolled nearly 1,500 subjects between
the ages of 38 and 60 at the end of the
1960s. Blood samples obtained upon enrollment
were analyzed for levels of serum homocysteine,
an amino acid byproduct of metabolism which
has been linked to an increased risk of
cardiovascular disease and dementia when
elevated. The women were followed for 35
years, making it the longest study to evaluate
the relationship between homocysteine level
and dementia.
"Alzheimer's disease was more than
twice as common among the women with the
highest levels of homocysteine than among
those with the lowest, and the risk for
any kind of dementia was 70 per cent higher,"
revealed Dr Zylberstein. "These days,
we in our clinical practice use homocysteine
analyses mainly for assessment of vitamin
status. However, our results mean that we
could use the very same analysis for assessment
of individual's risk profile for dementia
development. This opens the possibility
for future preventive treatment at a very
early stage."
It is not known whether increased homocysteine
contributes to dementia or is elevated by
a factor associated with the condition.
Although elevated homocysteine can be the
result of vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies,
it can also occur when vitamin status is
considered normal according to current standards.
Dr Zylberstein's thesis also examined a
gene variant that is associated with a 65
percent lower risk of dementia when two
copies are present, and with a 40 percent
lower risk when one copy is present. "We
have only been able to carry out a genetic
analysis on just over 550 of the blood samples
from the Prospective Population Study of
Women, and want to undertake bigger studies
before we can say for sure that the gene
really does protect against dementia,"
stated professor Lauren Lissner, who supervised
the thesis. "We hope to be able to
perform the same analysis on more samples
from the study."
|
Más
información