%0 Journal Article
%T Plasma 24S-hydroxycholesterol levels in elderly subjects with late onset Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia: a case-control study
%A Giovanni Zuliani
%A Michela Donnorso
%A Cristina Bosi
%A Angelina Passaro
%A Edoardo Nora
%A Amedeo Zurlo
%A Francesco Bonetti
%A Alessia F Mozzi
%A Claudio Cortese
%J BMC Neurology
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2377-11-121
%X By high-speed liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry we evaluated the plasma levels of 24S-OH-Chol in a sample of 160 older individuals: 60 patients with LOAD, 35 patients with VD, 25 subjects affected by cognitive impairment no-dementia (CIND), and 40 (144 for genetics study) cognitively normal Controls. We also investigated the possible association between PPARgamma Pro12Ala polymorphism and dementia or 24S-OH-Chol levels.Compared with Controls, plasma 24S-OH-Chol levels were higher in LOAD and lower in VD; a slight not-significant increase in CIND was observed (ANOVA p: 0.001). A positive correlation between 24S-OH-Chol/TC ratio and plasma C reactive protein (CRP) levels was found in the whole sample, independent of possible confounders (multiple regression p: 0.04; r2: 0.10). This correlation was strong in LOAD (r: 0.39), still present in CIND (r: 0.20), but was absent in VD patients (r: 0.08). The PPARgamma Pro12Ala polymorphism was not associated with the diagnosis of LOAD, VD, or CIND; no correlation emerged between the Ala allele and 24S-OH-Chol plasma levels.Our results suggest that plasma 24S-OH-Chol levels might be increased in the first stages of LOAD, and this phenomenon might be related with systemic inflammation. The finding of lower 24S-OH-Chol concentrations in VD might be related with a more advanced stage of VD compared with LOAD in our sample, and/or to different pathogenetic mechanisms and evolution of these two forms of dementia.Late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia in older individuals living in Western countries, followed by vascular dementia (VD) [1,2]. Besides a definite role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and of consequence of some types of VD, disturbances of cholesterol homeostasis might have a role also in the development of LOAD [3,4]. In central nervous system (CNS) cholesterol originates almost exclusively from in situ synthesis [5], while circulating cholesterol is normally preven
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/11/121