Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:420-423
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Prospective study of increased platelet membrane fluidity as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: results at 5 years
GS Zubenko, I Teply, E Winwood, FJ Huff, J Moossy, T Sunderland and AJ Martinez
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA 15213, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this study was to evaluate increased
platelet membrane fluidity as a putative risk factor for Alzheimer's
disease. METHOD: This report describes the initial results of a
prospective, longitudinal study of 330 initially asymptomatic, first-
degree relatives of probands with Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS: Five
incident cases of Alzheimer's disease were detected during the first 1,582
subject-years of the follow-up period. The age-specific incidence of
Alzheimer's disease was several-fold higher than corresponding figures that
were obtained in two prospective community studies. Most important, both
age and increased platelet membrane fluidity made significant independent
contributions to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. CONCLUSIONS:
These results validate age and a family history of Alzheimer's disease as
risk factors for this disorder and provide the first prospective evidence
of increased platelet membrane fluidity as a biological risk factor for
Alzheimer's disease.
