Correlation between behavioural and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer type dementia and plasma homocysteine concentration

Abstract

The relationship between plasma homocysteine and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) has not been specifically investigated in previous research. In this study, we compared plasma homocysteine (Hcy) among 40 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with BPSD, 37 AD patients without BPSD, and 39 healthy controls. Our results evidenced that the plasma homocysteine levels in AD patients with BPSD and without BPSD were higher than healthy controls and that the plasma homocysteine concentration in AD patients with BPSD was the highest among the three groups. Significant correlation between plasma homocysteine concentration and cognitive decline and duration of dementia was observed, but there was no correlation between BPSD and cognitive dysfunction or duration of dementia. In conclusion, this study showed for the first time that BPSD were associated with plasma homocysteine concentration in Alzheimer's dementia, and the results supported that hyperhomocysteine may take part in the pathogenesis of BPSD.

Figure 1

The correlations between MMSE and homocysteine in AD patients. (a) A significant negative correlation between MMSE and homocysteine in BPSD patients group (r = 0.974; P < 0.001). (b) A significant negative correlation between MMSE and homocysteine in No BPSD patients group (r = 0.929; P < 0.001). Correlation lines are also shown.

Figure 2

The correlations between duration of AD and homocysteine in AD patients. (a) A significant positive correlation between duration of AD and homocysteine in BPSD patients group (r = 0.988; P < 0.001). (b) A significant positive correlation between duration of AD and homocysteine in No BPSD patients group (r = 0.974; P < 0.001). Correlation lines are also shown.