title: Assessment of endothelial function in Alzheimer's disease: is Alzheimer's disease a vascular disease?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare endothelial function of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with that of people without.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Geriatric medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five patients with AD who were free of vascular risk factors and 24 healthy elderly controls were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, evident stroke, smoking, documented coronary artery disease, history of myocardial infarction, heart failure, acute or chronic infection, malignancy, peripheral artery disease, renal disease, rheumatologic diseases, alcohol abuse, and certain drugs that may affect endothelial function. Both groups underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment and neuropsychiatric assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Endothelial function was evaluated according to flow-mediated dilation (FMD) from the brachial artery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age +/- standard deviation was 78 +/- 5.9 in the group with AD (11 female and 14 male) and 72.1 +/- 5.8 in the control group (9 female and 11 male). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that FMD was significantly lower in patients with AD (median 3.45, range 0-7) than controls (median 8.41, range 1-14) (P < .001), independent of age. It was also found that FMD values were inversely correlated with the stage of the disease as determined according to the Clinical Dementia Rating scale (r=-0.603, P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endothelial function is impaired in patients with AD. Endothelial function was worse in patients with severe AD. These findings provide evidence that vascular factors have a role in the pathogenesis of AD.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Haceteppe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Didem Sener
authors: DS
authors: Dede
authors: Bunyamin
authors: B
authors: Yavuz
authors: Burcu Balam
authors: BB
authors: Yavuz
authors: Mustafa
authors: M
authors: Cankurtaran
authors: Meltem
authors: M
authors: Halil
authors: Zekeriya
authors: Z
authors: Ulger
authors: Eylem Sahin
authors: ES
authors: Cankurtaran
authors: Kudret
authors: K
authors: Aytemir
authors: Giray
authors: G
authors: Kabakci
authors: Servet
authors: S
authors: Ariogul
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001916:Brachial Artery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male