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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias logoLink to American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
. 2008 Jun-Jul;23(3):274–279. doi: 10.1177/1533317508317816

Antibodies Against GM1 in Demented Patients

Eleni Hatzifilippou 1, Ephrosini Koutsouraki 2, Tania Banaki 3, Maria Traka 4, Vassiliki G Costa 5, Stavros J Baloyannis 6
PMCID: PMC10846108  PMID: 18509104

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of anti-GM1 in demented patients, correlating them with the type and severity of dementia as well as with the eventually coexistent polyneuropathy. Anti-GM1 concentrations were measured in the sera of 33 demented patients with a male-to-female ratio of 1:2.7 (the mean age was 69.7 years for males and 70.1 years for females). Eighty-two percent of the patients revealed increased values of anti-GM1, but only 18.2% demonstrated polyneuropathies. Fifty-nine percent of the patients suffered from vascular dementia. The most severely demented patients demonstrated a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 5 to 23 out of 30 and revealed the most increased levels of anti-GM1 (>40 EU/mL). The findings of this study are indicative of a possible correlation between the levels of anti-GM1 and the severity of dementia, mainly of the vascular type.

Keywords: antibodies to GM1, dementia, anti-GM1 IgM and dementia, gangliosides in dementia, Alzheimer's disease

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Contributor Information

Eleni Hatzifilippou, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Ephrosini Koutsouraki, Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Tania Banaki, Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University.

Maria Traka, Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University.

Vassiliki G. Costa, Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Stavros J. Baloyannis, Memory Clinic of the 1st Department of Neurology, Aristotelian University, mpalogia@auth.gr, Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology Aristotelian University, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

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