Patients with Alzheimer's disease and nondemented elderly control
subjects participated in studies of cortisol secretion during sleep and at
9:00 a.m. and were given dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs) and lumbar
punctures. Nocturnal and 9:00 a.m. cortisol concentrations were
significantly higher in the demented patients. CSF MHPG negatively
correlated with mean nocturnal cortisol. The most severely demented
patients had the highest 9:00 a.m. and mean nocturnal cortisol
concentrations. DST results did not distinguish samples with substantially
different nocturnal cortisol concentrations. These results suggest that
measurements of basal plasma cortisol concentrations and dexamethasone
suppression provide different information but support the notion of
somewhat higher than normal cortisol concentrations in Alzheimer's disease
patients.
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