Dataset Information

Kynurenines, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, and Cognitive Prognosis in Patients with Mild Dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Circulating tryptophan (Trp) and its downstream metabolites, the kynurenines, are potentially neuroactive. Consequently, they could be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive prognosis in patients with dementia.

Objective

The objective of this study was to assess associations between circulating kynurenines, cognitive prognosis, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Methods

We measured baseline serum Trp, neopterin, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), and 9 kynurenines in 155 patients with mild dementia (90 with Alzheimer's disease, 65 with Lewy body dementia). The ratios between kynurenine and Trp and kynurenic acid (KA) to kynurenine (KKR) were calculated. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were administered at baseline and annually over 5 years. Associations between baseline metabolite concentrations with MMSE and the NPI total score were assessed using a generalized structural equation model (mixed-effects multiprocess model), adjusted for age, sex, current smoking, glomerular filtration rate, and PLP. Post hoc associations between KKRs and individual NPI items were assessed using logistic mixed-effects models. False discovery rate (0.05)-adjusted P values (Q values) are reported.

Results

Kynurenine had a nonlinear quadratic relationship with the intercept of the MMSE scores over 5 years (Q < 0.05), but not with the slope of MMSE decline. Kynurenine was associated with a higher NPI total score over time (Q < 0.001). Post hoc, both KKR and KA were associated with more hallucinations (Q < 0.05).

Conclusions

Kynurenine has a complex relationship with cognition, where both low and high levels were associated with poor cognitive performance. A higher KKR indicated risk for neuropsychiatric symptoms, especially hallucinations.

SUBMITTER: Solvang SH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6769202 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Kynurenines, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, and Cognitive Prognosis in Patients with Mild Dementia.

Solvang Stein-Erik Hafstad SH Nordrehaug Jan Erik JE Aarsland Dag D Lange Johannes J Ueland Per Magne PM McCann Adrian A Midttun Øivind Ø Tell Grethe S GS Giil Lasse Melvaer LM

International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR 20190929

<h4>Introduction</h4>Circulating tryptophan (Trp) and its downstream metabolites, the kynurenines, are potentially neuroactive. Consequently, they could be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive prognosis in patients with dementia.<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to assess associations between circulating kynurenines, cognitive prognosis, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.<h4>Methods</h4>We measured baseline serum Trp, neopterin, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), and 9 ...[more]

PMID: 31632053

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: The interaction between neuropsychiatric symptoms, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia is complex and remains to be elucidated. An additive or multiplicative effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy or depression on cognitive decline has been suggested. Unraveling these interactions may allow the development of better prevention and treatment strategies. In the absence of available treatments for neurodegeneration, a timely and adequate identification of neuropsychiatric symptom changes in cognitive decline is highly relevant and can help identify treatment targets. Methods: An existing memory clinic-based research database of 476 individuals with MCI and 978 individuals with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) was reanalyzed. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed in a prospective fashion using a battery of neuropsychiatric assessment scales: Middelheim Frontality Score, Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD), Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), and Geriatric Depression Scale (30 items). We subtyped subjects suffering from dementia as mild, moderate, or severe according to their Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and compared neuropsychiatric scores across these groups. A group of 126 subjects suffering from AD with a significant cerebrovascular component was examined separately as well. We compared the prevalence, nature, and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms between subgroups of patients with MCI and dementia due to AD in a cross-sectional analysis. Results: Affective and sleep-related symptoms are common in MCI and remain constant in prevalence and severity across dementia groups. Depressive symptoms as assessed by the CSDD further increase in severe dementia. Most other neuropsychiatric symptoms (such as agitation and activity disturbances) progress in parallel with severity of cognitive decline. There are no significant differences in neuropsychiatric symptoms when comparing "pure" AD to AD with a significant vascular component. Conclusion: Neuropsychiatric symptoms such as frontal lobe symptoms, psychosis, agitation, aggression, and activity disturbances increase as dementia progresses. Affective symptoms such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, however, are more frequent in MCI than mild dementia but otherwise remain stable throughout the cognitive spectrum, except for an increase in CSDD score in severe dementia. There is no difference in neuropsychiatric symptoms when comparing mixed dementia (defined here as AD + significant cerebrovascular disease) to pure AD.

Dataset Information

Kynurenines, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, and Cognitive Prognosis in Patients with Mild Dementia.

Introduction

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Kynurenines, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, and Cognitive Prognosis in Patients with Mild Dementia.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets