RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND SLEEP-WAKE VARIABLES IN ASYMPTOMATIC OFFSPRING OF PATIENTS WITH LATE-ONSET ALZHEIMER´S DISEASE

ABULAFIA, CAROLINA; DUARTE ABRITTA, BARBARA; VILLAREAL, MIRTA F.; DE GUEVARA, M. SOLEDAD LADRON; GARCIA, CELESTE; SEQUEYRA, GERALDINE; SEVLEVER, GUSTAVO; FIORENTINI, LETICIA; BÄR, KARL-JÜRGEN; GUSTAFSON, DEBORAH R.; VIGO, DANIEL E; GUINJOAN, SALVADOR M

HUMAN AND ANIMAL MODELS FOR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH ON NEURODEGENERATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Frontiers Media

Lugar: Laussanne; Año: 2018; p. 95 - 102

Early neuropathological changes characteristic of late-onset Alzheimer?s disease (LOAD)involve brain stem and limbic structures that regulate neurovegetative functions,including sleep?wake rhythm. Indeed, sleep pattern is an emerging biomarker and apotential pathophysiological mechanism in LOAD. We hypothesized that cognitivelyasymptomatic, middle-aged offspring of patients with LOAD (O-LOAD) would displaya series of circadian rhythm abnormalities prior to the onset of objective cognitivealterations. We tested 31 children of patients with LOAD (O-LOAD) and 19 healthyindividuals without family history of Alzheimer?s disease (control subjects, CS) with basictests of cognitive function, as well as actigraphy measures of sleep?wake rhythm,cardiac autonomic function, and bodily temperature. Unexpectedly, O-LOAD displayedsubtle but significant deficits in verbal episodic memory (Rey Auditory Verbal LearningTest delayed recall 10.6 0.4 vs. 8.6 0.6, t D 4.97, df D 49, p < 0.01) andlanguage (Weschler?s vocabulary 51.4 1.3 vs. 44.3 1.5, t D 2.49, df D 49,p < 0.001) compared to CS, even though all participants had results within theclinically normal range. O-LOAD showed a phase-delayed rhythm of body temperature(2.56 0.47 h vs. 3.8 0.26 h, t D 2.48, df D 40, p D 0.031). Cognitive performancein O-LOAD was associated with a series of cardiac autonomic sleep?wake variables;specifically indicators of greater sympathetic activity at night were related to poorercognition. The present results suggest sleep pattern deserves further study as apotential neurobiological signature in LOAD, even in middle-aged, at risk individuals.