A 90-year-old monozygotic female twin pair discordant for Alzheimer's disease.
The present study describes PET, MRI, and neuropsychological findings in 90-year-old monozygotic female twins, who have remained discordant for probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) for at least 7 years. These findings were compared with those of healthy persons composing the reference group (seven women, three men; the mean+/-S.D. age: 73.3+/-3.3 years). Twins' life histories were remarkably similar, except for continuous NSAID use of the unaffected twin for decades. The regional cerebral glucose metabolic rates (rCMRgluc) and all but two CERAD test scores of the affected twin were more than 2 S.D. below the mean values of the reference group. These values were normal in the unaffected twin. The affected twin had moderate hippocampal and temporoparietal atrophy, whereas the hippocampi were intact, and cortical atrophy was mild in the unaffected twin. These findings indicate that the twins were discordant for AD, even though they had reached the age in which the prevalence of AD is high among women. Our results further address the influence of environmental factors on the onset of AD, especially the possible protective effect of anti-inflammatory medication.
Järvenpää
Tarja
T
Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, P.O. Box 52, Fin-20521, Turku, Finland.
Räihä
Ismo
I
Kaprio
Jaakko
J
Koskenvuo
Markku
M
Laine
Matti
M
Kurki
Timo
T
Viljanen
Tapio
T
Rinne
Juha O
JO
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001284:Atrophy; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic