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Irisin and BDNF serum levels and behavioral disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease

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Abstract

Behavioral dysfunctions (BPSD) represent the most important problem in Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) management. We assessed the serum levels of two myokines in AD patients, preliminary investigating, as secondary aim, their role as potential biomarkers for agitation/aggression (AA) and aberrant motor behavior (AMB): irisin, since it is able to modify the motor pattern, and BDNF, since it was transcribed following irisin stimulation. Forty AD patients were recruited and characterized according to the expressed neuropsychiatric syndrome. Myokines were measured by ELISA. Irisin serum levels were slightly elevated in AA+ patients (+ 10.0%; p < 0.05) and correlated with the duration of AA (r = 0.74, p < 0.03). BDNF failed to show such differences. We propose that these selected myokines are not useful as surrogate markers for agitation in AD, but might represent interesting secondary outcomes when testing drugs for those BPSD implying elevated motor activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine and Surgery and Milan Center for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Elisa Conti, Denise Grana, Giovanni Stefanoni, Ildebrando Appollonio, Carlo Ferrarese & Lucio Tremolizzo

  2. PhD Program in Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Denise Grana

  3. Memory Clinic, Neurology Unit, “San Gerardo” Hospital, Monza, Italy

    Giovanni Stefanoni, Ildebrando Appollonio, Carlo Ferrarese & Lucio Tremolizzo

  4. Dip. di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Alberto Corsini, Margherita Botta & Paolo Magni

  5. Multimedica IRCCS, Milan, Italy

    Alberto Corsini

  6. Neurology, “Manzoni” Hospital, Lecco, Italy

    Angelo Aliprandi

  7. NEuroMuscular Omnicentre (NEMO), Fondazione Serena Onlus|, Milan, Italy

    Christian Lunetta

Authors
  1. Elisa Conti
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  2. Denise Grana
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  3. Giovanni Stefanoni
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  4. Alberto Corsini
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  5. Margherita Botta
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  6. Paolo Magni
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  8. Christian Lunetta
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  9. Ildebrando Appollonio
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  10. Carlo Ferrarese
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  11. Lucio Tremolizzo
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Correspondence to Lucio Tremolizzo.

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Conti, E., Grana, D., Stefanoni, G. et al. Irisin and BDNF serum levels and behavioral disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurol Sci 40, 1145–1150 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03781-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03781-y

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