title: Vascular dementia and anticardiolipin antibodies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An association between anticardiolipin antibodies and dementia has been reported in several recent studies; however, its physiopathological mechanism remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of vascular dementia and anticardiolipin antibodies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random prospective investigation of 17 male and 13 female patients with vascular dementia was made with regard to anticardiolipin antibodies. Their ages ranged from 56 to 77 years (average: 67.2 years). The criteria of NINDS-AIREN were used to define the vascular dementia. A control group of 25 female and 9 male patients was formed with ages ranging from 62 to 80 years (mean: 68 years). Evaluation of the anticardiolipin antibodies was performed by means of Enzyme-Linked Immunoabsorbent Assay (ELISA) for the quantitative measurement of IgG and IgM antibodies against cardiolipins in serum. Statistical analysis was done using the Fisher's exact test, where p<0.05 was considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elevated levels of anticardiolipin antibodies were detected in 56.6% of the patients with vascular dementia and 26.4% of the control group (p<0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant difference in the prevalence of high levels of anticardiolipin antibodies between the group of patients with vascular dementia and the control group. This proves that anticardiolipin antibodies present a risk factor for vascular dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Vascular Surgery, São José do Rio Preto University School of Medicine, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. godoyjmp@riopreto.com.br
authors.forename: José Maria Pereira
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de Godoy
authors.forename: Maria Regina Pereira
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: de Godoy
authors.forename: José Paulo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cipulo
authors.forename: Valdir Antonio
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Tognola
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M