Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal acivity and memory in the elderly. A non invasive approach

ARREGGER AL, CARDOSO EML, SANCHEZ R, SAGLIO ML, CONTRERAS LN.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

HYPOTHALAMIC- PITUITARY-ADRENAL ACTIVIY AND MEMORY IN THE ELDERLY: A NON INVASIVE APPROACH.Abstract: Daily stress in aging has been linked to detrimental effects on memory. However, associated impairment of the HPA axis regulation remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between memory and the cortisol feed-back regulation oftheHPA axis in aging women. Seventeen women aged 71.5±7yo without dementia complainingof poor memorywere studied. They obtained whole saliva samples to evaluate the circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol (SAF) by the ratio 8.00 and 23.00 (SAF8/SAF23≥ 2).TheHPA axissuppressibility was assessed by the overnight 0.5 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST).SAF and salivary dexamethasone (Dsa) after DST were determined at 8.00 (SAF8dex, Dsa8) and at 16.00(SAF16dex, Dsa16).Quality of life (QL) was investigated by the self administered questionnaire SF36.Episodic, logical, working and semantic memories,visuospatial perception and attention were also assessed. The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the IDIM A. Lanari and all subjects gave their written informed consent.SAF(nmol/L) and Dsa (pmol/L) were determined by RIA andELISA respectively.Statistics were performed by SPSS(p