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Neurochemical investigations in patients with dementia of Alzheimer type and their clinical value

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New Trends in the Diagnosis and Therapy of Alzheimer’s Disease

Part of the book series: Key Topics in Brain Research ((KEYTOPICS))

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Summary

The clinical diagnosis of dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT) relies on the identification of a dementia syndrome in the absence of other known etiologies, which results in a diagnostic validity of approximately 90 percent. Thus, the identification of a biological ante-mortem marker of DAT would be of great help. Investigations on post-mortem tissue have established several cascades of cell biological events in the affected brain, e.g. cholinergic degeneration, free oxygen radical toxicity, impairment of glucose metabolism, which we used as a rationale for testing the diagnosis utility of related parameters in DAT patients. Acetylcholine (ACh) and choline, and vitamin E in the CSF as well as neuroendocrine changes after a GHRH/CRH challenge and hormonal changes after an oral glucose tolerance in DAT patients were measured. For ACh concentration in CSF and neuroendocrine changes after GHRH as well as insulin release after OGTT, there were subtle changes from controls. The potential use of these parameters as diagnostic markers of Alzheimer’s disease in the alive patient is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry I, J. W. Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai, D-60596, Frankfurt/Main, Federal Republic of Germany

    Dr. L. Frölich, J. Thome, T. Dierks & K. Maurer

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Würzburg, Germany

    A. Dirr, M. E. Götz, Y. Taneli, K. P. Lesch, D. Blum-Degen & P. Riederer

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Düsseldorf, Federal Republic of Germany

    R. Ihl

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  1. Dr. L. Frölich
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  2. A. Dirr
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  3. M. E. Götz
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  4. Y. Taneli
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  5. J. Thome
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  6. K. P. Lesch
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  7. R. Ihl
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  8. T. Dierks
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  9. D. Blum-Degen
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  10. P. Riederer
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  11. K. Maurer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, Lainz Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    K. A. Jellinger

  2. Department of Neurology, Landesnervenklinik, Salzburg, Austria

    G. Ladurner

  3. Department of Research and Development, Ebewe Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Unterach, Austria

    M. Windisch

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag/Wien

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Frölich, L. et al. (1994). Neurochemical investigations in patients with dementia of Alzheimer type and their clinical value. In: Jellinger, K.A., Ladurner, G., Windisch, M. (eds) New Trends in the Diagnosis and Therapy of Alzheimer’s Disease. Key Topics in Brain Research. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9376-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9376-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-82620-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-9376-1

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