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Antibodies Against GM1 in Demented Patients

Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Ephrosini Koutsouraki, MD

Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Tania Banaki, MSc

Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University

Maria Traka, MD

Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University

Vassiliki G. Costa, MD

Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Stavros J. Baloyannis, MD, PhD

Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, mpalogia{at}auth.gr, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of anti-GM1 in demented patients, correlating them with the type and severity of dementia as well as with the eventually coexistent polyneuropathy. Anti-GM1 concentrations were measured in the sera of 33 demented patients with a male-to-female ratio of 1:2.7 (the mean age was 69.7 years for males and 70.1 years for females). Eighty-two percent of the patients revealed increased values of anti-GM1, but only 18.2% demonstrated polyneuropathies. Fifty-nine percent of the patients suffered from vascular dementia. The most severely demented patients demonstrated a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 5 to 23 out of 30 and revealed the most increased levels of anti-GM1 (>40 EU/mL). The findings of this study are indicative of a possible correlation between the levels of anti-GM1 and the severity of dementia, mainly of the vascular type.

Key Words: antibodies to GM1 • dementia • anti-GM1 IgM and dementia • gangliosides in dementia • Alzheimer's disease

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