Prevalence and Determinants of Agonistic Autoantibodies Against α1-Adrenergic Receptors in Patients Screened Positive for Dementia: Results from the Population-Based DelpHi-Study

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Thyrian, Jochen René^{a; *} | Hertel, Johannes^{a; b} | Schulze, Lara N.^b | Dörr, Marcus^{c; d} | Prüss, Harald^{e; f} | Hempel, Petra^g | Bimmler, Marion^g | Kunze, Rudolf^h | Grabe, Hans Jörgen^{a; b} | Teipel, Stefan^{i; j} | Hoffmann, Wolfgang^{a; k}

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Jochen René Thyrian, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Ellernholzstr. 1-2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany. Tel.: +49 3834 87 7592; E-mail: rene.thyrian@dzne.de.

Abstract: Background:There is a need to assess promising biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment response in real-life settings. Despite the important role of vascular risk factors, cardiovascular biomarkers have played a minor role in dementia research. Agonistic autoantibodies (agAAB) directed against G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are discussed as modulators of pathology and clinical manifestation. Objective:1) Describe prevalence of agAAB directed against GPCR, especially agABB against α1-adrenergic receptors (α1-AR-agAAB) and agABB directed against β2-adrenergic receptors (β2-AR-agAAB) and 2) identify factors associated with agAAB in people with dementia during routine care. Methods:Blood samples and data from 95 subjects who screened positive for dementia from a primary care cohort, analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting agAAB. Sociodemographic and clinical data were assessed, and medical records checked. Results:In 40 (42%) samples, agAAB was detected, with n = 29 (31%) representing α1-AR-agAAB and n = 21 (22%) β2-AR-agAAB. There was no association between the presence of any antibody and a formal diagnosis of dementia. However, patients with coronary heart disease were more likely (OR = 4.23) to have α1-AR-agAAB than those without coronary heart disease. There were no associations between agAAB and age, sex, education, or cognitive impairment. Discussion:For the first time, we show that autoantibodies have a significant prevalence in people with dementia in a routine care setting. Previous findings were restricted to highly selective samples. We replicated the association between α1-AR-agAAB in patients with coronary heart diseases but were not able to find other factors associated with the presence of agAAB.

Keywords: Antibodies, biomarker, immunoadsorption, prevalence, primary care

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-171096

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1091-1097, 2018