Monoamine metabolite concentrations and cholinesterase activities in cerebrospinal fluid of progressive dementia patients : relation to clinical parameters.

• Forty-five well clinically characterized patients with progressive dementia were investigated for lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolites and cholinesterase activities. Monoamine concentrations were determined by reverse phase liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection and the cholinergic enzymes were measured photometrically. Firstly, all clinical and CSF parameters were studied in statistical cluster analyses to detect groups of variables which demonstrated a high correlation with respect to each other. The CSF transmitter markers were then used in multiple regression models to explain the variance of clinical variables as chosen from the cluster analyses. The degree of dementia, as assessed by global deterioration score (GDS) and activity in daily life (ADL) status, as well as the Alzheimer-related symptoms dyspraxia and dysphasia, were associated with low AChE activities in CSF. A presumed subgroup of dementia patients clinically characterized by asymmetry of neurological signs, increased unilateral tonus, stepwise progression, and high Hachinski score, showed low HVA concentrations in CSF. These data suggest a coupling of clinical/neurological parameters to different CSF transmitter profils and, thus, that CSF biochemical parameters are of use as antemortem markers in dementia conditions.

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