Cortisol and Alzheimer's disease, I: Basal studies.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease and nondemented elderly control subjects participated in studies of cortisol secretion during sleep and at 9:00 a.m. and were given dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs) and lumbar punctures. Nocturnal and 9:00 a.m. cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in the demented patients. CSF MHPG negatively correlated with mean nocturnal cortisol. The most severely demented patients had the highest 9:00 a.m. and mean nocturnal cortisol concentrations. DST results did not distinguish samples with substantially different nocturnal cortisol concentrations. These results suggest that measurements of basal plasma cortisol concentrations and dexamethasone suppression provide different information but support the notion of somewhat higher than normal cortisol concentrations in Alzheimer's disease patients.

[1]  D. Rubinow,et al.  Cortisol hypersecretion and cognitive impairment in depression. , 1984, Archives of general psychiatry.

[2]  K. Davis,et al.  Effects of propantheline bromide on basal growth hormone, cortisol and prolactin levels , 1983, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[3]  G. Långström,et al.  Dexamethasone Suppression Test and Serum Prolactin in Dementia Disorders , 1983, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[4]  K. Davis,et al.  Neurotransmitter Deficits in Alzheimer's Disease: Criteria for Significance , 1983, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[5]  T. Insel,et al.  Increased plasma MHPG in dexamethasone-resistant depressed patients. , 1983, Archives of general psychiatry.

[6]  I. Kopin,et al.  Relation between plasma and cerebrospinal fluid levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol. , 1983, Science.

[7]  D. D. Cowell.  Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type , 1983 .

[8]  K. Davis,et al.  Effects of cholinergic stimulation on pituitary hormone release , 1982, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[9]  K. Davis,et al.  Enhancement of memory processes in Alzheimer's disease with multiple-dose intravenous physostigmine. , 1982, The American journal of psychiatry.

[10]  E. Peskind,et al.  Dexamethasone suppression test and cortisol circadian rhythm in primary degenerative dementia. , 1982, The American journal of psychiatry.

[11]  K. Davis,et al.  Cerebrospinal fluid acetylcholine, choline, and senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type. , 1982, Psychopharmacology bulletin.

[12]  R. Gerner,et al.  Does the dexamethasone suppression test distinguish dementia from depression? , 1982, The American journal of psychiatry.

[13]  E. Perry,et al.  Neuropathological and biochemical observations on the noradrenergic system in Alzheimer's disease , 1981, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[14]  M. Roth,et al.  SELECTIVE LOSS OF NEURONES OF ORIGIN OF ADRENERGIC PROJECTION TO CEREBRAL CORTEX (NUCLEUS LOCUS COERULEUS) IN SENILE DEMENTIA , 1981, The Lancet.

[15]  G. Blessed,et al.  Cell loss in the locus coeruleus in senile dementia of Alzheimer type , 1981, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[16]  M. Leon,et al.  Central amine metabolism in Alzheimer's disease: In vivo relationship to cognitive deficit , 1981, Neurobiology of Aging.

[17]  G. Asnis,et al.  Dextroamphetamine and cortisol in depression. Morning plasma cortisol levels suppressed. , 1980, Archives of general psychiatry.

[18]  A. Dessypris,et al.  The Effect of Galanthanine Hydrobromide on Plasma ACTH in Patients Undergoing Anaesthesia and Surgery , 1980 .

[19]  D. Cohen,et al.  Rapid liquid chromatographic determination of tryptophan, tyrosine, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and homovanillic acid in cerebrospinal fluid. , 1979, Journal of chromatography.

[20]  M. Ron,et al.  Diagnostic Accuracy in Presenile Dementia , 1979, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[21]  E K Perry,et al.  Correlation of cholinergic abnormalities with senile plaques and mental test scores in senile dementia. , 1978, British medical journal.

[22]  E. Robins,et al.  Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. , 1978, Archives of general psychiatry.

[23]  R. Wyatt,et al.  Mass‐fragmentography of nanogram quantities of biogenic amine metabolites in human cerebrospinal fluid and whole rat brain , 1975 .

[24]  J. J. Fleminger,et al.  PRESENILE DEMENTIA: THE DIFFICULTIES OF EARLY DIAGNOSIS , 1975, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[25]  M. Roth,et al.  The Association Between Quantitative Measures of Dementia and of Senile Change in the Cerebral Grey Matter of Elderly Subjects , 1968, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[26]  D. Krieger,et al.  Circadian Pattern of Plasma 17-Hydroxycorticosteroid: Alteration by Anticholinergic Agents , 1967, Science.

[27]  D. Krieger,et al.  Circadian variation of the plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in central nervous system disease. , 1966, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[28]  A. Garcy,et al.  Plasma cortisol of conscious cats during cerebroventricular perfusion with adrenergic, cholinergic and gabanergic antagonists. , 1978, Neuroendocrinology.

[29]  E. Ferrari,et al.  Variations circadiennes des effets d'une substance vagolytique sur le système ACTH-secrétant chez l'homme. , 1977 .

[30]  M. Jones,et al.  The effect of various putative neurotransmitters on the release of corticotrophin releasing hormone from the hypothalamus of the rat in vitro. I. The effect of acetylcholine and noradrenaline. , 1975, Neuroendocrinology.