Neurofilament Light Chain as a Biomarker of Global Cognition in Individuals With Possible Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment.

BACKGROUND: Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) is a biomarker of axonal injury elevated in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease dementia. Blood NfL also inversely correlates with cognitive performance in those conditions. However, few studies have assessed NfL as a biomarker of global cognition in individuals demonstrating mild cognitive deficits who are at risk for vascular-related cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between blood NfL and global cognition in individuals with possible vascular MCI (vMCI) throughout cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Additionally, NfL levels were compared to age/sex-matched cognitively unimpaired (CU) controls. METHOD: Participants with coronary artery disease (vMCI or CU) were recruited at entry to a 24-week CR program. Global cognition was measured using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and plasma NfL level (pg/ml) was quantified using a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Higher plasma NfL was correlated with worse MoCA scores at baseline (ß = -.352, P = .029) in 43 individuals with vMCI after adjusting for age, sex, and education. An increase in NfL was associated with worse global cognition (b[SE] = -4.81[2.06], P = .023) over time, however baseline NfL did not predict a decline in global cognition. NfL levels did not differ between the vMCI (n = 39) and CU (n = 39) groups (F(1, 76) = 1.37, P = .245). CONCLUSION: Plasma NfL correlates with global cognition at baseline in individuals with vMCI, and is associated with decline in global cognition during CR. Our findings increase understanding of NfL and neurobiological mechanisms associated with cognitive decline in vMCI.

Altered central and blood glutathione in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence implicates oxidative stress (OS) in Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Depletion of the brain antioxidant glutathione (GSH) may be important in OS-mediated neurodegeneration, though studies of post-mortem brain GSH changes in AD have been inconclusive. Recent in vivo measurements of the brain and blood GSH may shed light on GSH changes earlier in the disease. AIM: To quantitatively review in vivo GSH in AD and MCI compared to healthy controls (HC) using meta-analyses. METHOD: Studies with in vivo brain or blood GSH levels in MCI or AD with a HC group were identified using MEDLINE, PsychInfo, and Embase (1947-June 2020). Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for outcomes using random effects models. Outcome measures included brain GSH (Meshcher-Garwood Point Resolved Spectroscopy (MEGA-PRESS) versus non-MEGA-PRESS) and blood GSH (intracellular versus extracellular) in AD and MCI. The Q statistic and Egger's test were used to assess heterogeneity and risk of publication bias, respectively. RESULTS: For brain GSH, 4 AD (AD=135, HC=223) and 4 MCI (MCI=213, HC=211) studies were included. For blood GSH, 26 AD (AD=1203, HC=1135) and 7 MCI (MCI=434, HC=408) studies were included. Brain GSH overall did not differ in AD or MCI compared to HC; however, the subgroup of studies using MEGA-PRESS reported lower brain GSH in AD (SMD [95%CI] -1.45 [-1.83, -1.06], p<0.001) and MCI (-1.15 [-1.71, -0.59], z=4.0, p<0.001). AD had lower intracellular and extracellular blood GSH overall (-0.87 [-1. 30, -0.44], z=3.96, p<0.001). In a subgroup analysis, intracellular GSH was lower in MCI (-0.66 [-1.11, -0.21], p=0.025). Heterogeneity was observed throughout (I2 >85%) and not fully accounted by subgroup analysis. Egger's test indicated risk of publication bias. CONCLUSION: Blood intracellular GSH decrease is seen in MCI, while both intra- and extracellular decreases were seen in AD. Brain GSH is decreased in AD and MCI in subgroup analysis. Potential bias and heterogeneity suggest the need for measurement standardization and additional studies to explore sources of heterogeneity.

Glutathione Peroxidase Activity Is Altered in Vascular Cognitive Impairment-No Dementia and Is a Potential Marker for Verbal Memory Performance.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) increases risk for vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia (VCIND), a precursor to dementia, potentially through persistent oxidative stress. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed peripheral glutathione peroxidase activity (GPX), which is protective against oxidative stress, in VCIND versus cognitively normal CAD controls (CN). GPX activity was also evaluated as a biomarker of cognition, particularly verbal memory. METHODS: 120 CAD patients with VCIND (1SD below norms on executive function or verbal memory (VM)) or without (CN) participated in exercise rehabilitation for 24 weeks. Neurocognitive and cardiopulmonary fitness (VO2peak) assessments and plasma were collected at baseline and 24-weeks. RESULTS: GPX was higher in VCIND compared to CN (F1,119 = 3.996, p = 0.048). Higher GPX was associated with poorer baseline VM (ß= -0.182, p = 0.048), and longitudinally with VM decline controlling for sex, body mass index, VO2peak, and education (b[SE] = -0.02[0.01], p = 0.004). Only CN participants showed improved VM performance with increased fitness (b[SE] = 1.30[0.15], p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: GPX was elevated in VCIND consistent with a compensatory response to persistent oxidative stress. Increased GPX predicted poorer cognitive outcomes (verbal memory) in VCIND patients despite improved fitness.

Serious Adverse Events in the Canadian Registry of Children Receiving Palivizumab (CARESS) for Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prevention.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of palivizumab for RSV prophylaxis in high-risk children in everyday practice. METHODS: High-risk children prophylaxed against RSV infection were recruited into a prospective, observational, Canadian RSV Evaluation Study of Palivizumab (CARESS) registry with active, serious adverse event (SAE) monitoring from 2008 to 2013. SAE reports were systematically collected and assessed for severity and relationship to palivizumab. Data were analyzed by Chi-square or Fisher Exact Tests to examine group differences in proportions. RESULTS: 13025 infants received 57392 injections. Hospitalizations for respiratory-related illness (RIH) were reported in 915 patients, and SAEs other than RIH were reported in 52 patients. Of these, 6 (0.05%) patients had a total of 14 hypersensitivity reactions that were deemed possibly or probably related to palivizumab (incidence: 2.8 per 10,000 patient-months). The SAEs of 42 patients were assessed as not related to palivizumab. SAEs in the remaining 4 patients were not classifiable as their records were incomplete. There were no significant demographic predictors of SAE occurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Under active surveillance, a small proportion of infants in the CARESS registry experienced SAEs that had a potential relationship with palivizumab and these appeared to be unpredictable in terms of onset. Palivizumab appears to be a safe and well-tolerated antibody for RSV prophylaxis in high-risk children in routine practice.

Latrepirdine for Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Current treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) provide modest symptomatic relief but do not slow the progression of the disease. Latrepirdine may modulate several targets involved in AD pathology, including lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial permeability, voltage-gated calcium ion channels as well as neurotransmitter receptor activity, and thus potentially represents both a symptomatic and disease-modifying intervention. Several randomized, placebo-controlled trials have sought to evaluate the effect of latrepirdine on cognition, function and behaviour in patients with AD. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of latrepirdine for the treatment of AD. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group on 4 June 2014 using the terms: latrepirdine OR dimebon OR dimebolin OR 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-2,8-dimethyl-5- (2-(6-methyl-3-pyridyl)ethyl)-1H-pyrido(4,3-b)indole. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials where latrepirdine was administered to patients with mild, moderate or severe AD. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We assessed the quality of studies and two authors extracted data. We calculated mean difference (MD), risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis for all relevant outcome measures. MAIN RESULTS: Seven trials involving a total of 1697 participants were found and six were included in the quantitative analyses. No data were available from the seventh trial. Three trials involving 1243 patients were included in analyses of efficacy outcomes, and four trials involving 1034 patients were included in analyses of safety and tolerability outcomes. We judged five trials to be at high risk of bias due to selective outcome reporting and three to be at high risk of attrition bias. There was low quality evidence favouring latrepirdine on the Clinician's Interview - Based Impression of Change Plus Caregiver Input after 26 weeks (CIBIC-Plus) (MD -0.60, 95% CI -0.89 to -0.31, 1 study, P < 0.001). Due to imprecision in the results, it was not possible to determine whether latrepirdine had any effect on cognition measured with the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) (MD -1.49, 95% CI -3.47 to 0.49, 3 studies, P = 0.14) or the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (MD 0.59, 95% CI -0.94 to 2.11, 3 studies, P = 0.45), or on function measured with the Alzheimer's Disease Co-operative Study - Activities of Daily Living scale (ADCS-ADL) (MD 1.00, 95% CI -1.15 to 3.15, 3 studies, P = 0.36) at study endpoint (26 or 52 weeks). We considered the evidence provided on these outcomes to be of overall low quality. However, there was some high quality evidence showing a very small benefit of latrepirdine on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) (MD -1.77, 95% CI -3.09 to -0.45, 3 studies, P = 0.009) at study endpoint (26 or 52 weeks). Additionally, moderate quality evidence suggested that latrepirdine and placebo were comparable in adverse events (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.14, P = 0.51), serious adverse events (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.35, P = 0.52), dropouts (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.27, P = 0.57) and dropouts due to adverse events (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.67, P = 0.93). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis is limited by the small number of studies, imprecision, inconsistencies between studies and likelihood of bias. Nevertheless, the evidence to date suggests that while not associated with an increased risk of adverse events compared with placebo, there is no effect of latrepirdine on cognition and function in mild-to-moderate AD patients, though there appears to be a modest benefit for behaviour. Further studies should investigate the potential benefit of latrepirdine on neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD.