Agitation in dementia: relation to core cerebrospinal fluid biomarker levels

Victor Bloniecki; Dag Aarsland; Jeffrey Cummings; Kaj Blennow; Yvonne Freund-Levi

doi:10.1159/000363500

Agitation in dementia: relation to core cerebrospinal fluid biomarker levels

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2014 Aug 27;4(2):335-43. doi: 10.1159/000363500. eCollection 2014 May.

Authors

Victor Bloniecki¹, Dag Aarsland², Jeffrey Cummings³, Kaj Blennow⁴, Yvonne Freund-Levi¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Mölndal, Sweden.
² Center for Alzheimer Research, Division for Neurogeriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Mölndal, Sweden ; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
³ Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, Nev., USA.
⁴ Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to examine the associations of agitation with the cerebrospinal fluid dementia biomarkers total-tau (T-tau), phosphorylated-tau (P-tau) and Aβ1-42.

Methods: One hundred patients (mean age ± SD, 78.6 ± 7.5 years) with dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms, of whom 67% were female, were included. Agitation was measured using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI; 46.5 ± 11.8 points).

Results: Total CMAI correlated with T-tau [rs (31) = 0.36, p = 0.04] and P-tau [rs (31) = 0.35, p = 0.05] in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 33) but not in the total dementia population (n = 95).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that tau-mediated pathology including neurofibrillary tangles and the intensity of the disease process might be associated with agitation in AD.

Keywords: Agitation; Behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD); CMAI; Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); Dementia; Dementia biomarkers; Neurofibrillary tangles.