Antônio Lúcio Teixeira

Validation of the brazilian version of the berg balance scale for patients with parkinson's disease

BACKGROUNDnChanges in balance occur with the progression of Parkinsons disease (PD).nnnOBJECTIVEnTo validate the Brazilian version of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) for PD patients, determining its reliability and internal consistency and correlating it with PD-specific instruments.nnnMETHODnWe evaluated 53 patients (M/F 37/16, mean age+/-SD, 62+/-7.9 years) with PD (mean+/-SD, 7.8+/-4.4 years). Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Schwab and England Scale (SandE , Hoehn and Yahr Staging Scale (HY) and BBS were used to assess patients. Statistical analyses for inter-rater reliability, internal consistency and correlations among BBS, UPDRS, SandE and HY were performed.nnnRESULTSnThe mean scores+/-SD on UPDRS and BBS were, respectively, 41.6+/-17.8 and 47.2+/-8.2. The median on SandE and HY scales were 80% and 2.5, respectively. The BBS presented a high intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC=0.84) and internal consistency (Cronbrachs alpha=0.92). There was a statistically significant correlation between BBS and disease duration (r(s)= -0.520, p<0.001), UPDRS subscales II and III (r(s)= -0.467, p=0.011; r(s)= -0.374, p=0.046, respectively), stage of disease (HY; r(s)= -0.507, p<0.001) and the activities of daily living (SandE; r(s)=0.492, p<0.001).nnnCONCLUSIONnThe BBS is a promising tool for the assessment of balance in PD, correlating with the stage of disease and the level of independence.

Serum nerve growth factor (NGF) level is reduced in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

levels and the allelic-dose of ApoE4 gene in the brains of subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).Methods: We examined the post-mortem brain tissue of AD subjects with different ApoE genotypes (n 1⁄4 12 ApoE 3/3, 13 ApoE 3/4, and 11 ApoE 4/4; average death age 82 6 11 years) by using a newly developed BACE1 ELISA and by Western blotting. Measurements were performed in the mid-temporal gyrus (MTG) and mid-frontal gyrus (MFG), two cortical areas displaying amyloid beta pathology in AD subjects.Results:BACE1 ELISA andWestern blot revealed that BACE1 levels were decreased by 60% in ApoE 4/4 subjects when compared to ApoE 3/3 subjects in both theMTG (p1⁄4 0.007) andMFG (p1⁄4 0.008) areas. Moreover a 50% decrease in BACE1 levels was observed in ApoE 3/4 subjects when compared to ApoE3/3 (MTG p 1⁄4 0.017; MFG p 1⁄4 0.025). Conclusions: These data point in the direction of differential levels of BACE1 expression in the brain of AD subjects with different ApoE genotypes, potentially explaining the large inter-individual variations noted in earlier studies measuring BACE1 levels in AD and control subjects. This suggests that the reported increase in amyloid plaque load in ApoE4 allele carriers may result from clearance defects rather than increasedAs production, and that themolecular mechanisms of AD pathogenesis may be different between ApoE3 and ApoE4 carriers.