title: Decreased phospholipase A2 activity in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with dementia.
abstract: Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is involved in important aspects of dementia, for example neurotransmission and memory processing, membrane function, choline availability, and antioxidative defense. Reduced PLA2-activity has been reported so far in blood samples and postmortem neuronal tissue in Alzheimer disease. For the first time, we studied PLA2 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular (VD), and mixed Alzheimer/vascular dementia (MD). Intracellular PLA2 was assessed in CSF of 16 AD, 12 VD, 15 MD patients, and 19 healthy control subjects. A fluorometric assay was applied using the PLA2-specific substrate NBDC6-HPC. Significantly reduced PLA2 activity was not only found in AD, but also in VD and MD. This finding was independent of demographic co-variates and medication. PLA2 results in CSF corroborate previous findings of impaired PLA2 function in Alzheimer's disease and extend these to patients with VD. They are likely to reflect an involvement of PLA2 impairment in a variety of pathomechanisms crucial in different dementia subtypes, in which disruption of cholinergic neurotransmission and disturbance of intact membrane function appear to be the key mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Philosophenweg 3, 07743, Jena, Germany. stefan.smesny@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smesny
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Willhardt
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lasch
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sauer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003704:Dementia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000201:enzymology*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D054467:Phospholipases A2 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D054467:Phospholipases A2