Files
Abstract
Previous work from our group has demonstrated a relationship between dementia severity and blood plasma levels of the immunoglobulins for ABeta and RAGE in a mixed neurological sample of older adults. In this study, we compared non-diabetic older adults with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimers disease (AD). We found significant group differences between control and AD groups as well as between MCI and AD groups, but no group differences were found between the control and MCI groups. A trend towards significance was found when comparing lower IgG values in nonamnestic versus amnestic MCI groups. In addition, we found both IgGs to be significantly related to global performance on cognitive measures, as well as domain-specific performance on an immediate memory measure. However, IgG levels were not related to language or delayed memory measures. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications regarding these IgGs as potential biomarkers that could be used for early detection of AD, as well as a tool to monitor cognitive decline in AD.