A study of the risk for Alzheimer's disease in first-degree relatives of patients with affective disorders / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in first-degree relatives of patients with affective disorders,and to evaluate the risk of AD in first-degree relatives of the patients with affective disorders.Methods Patients with affective disorders meeting DSM-Ⅳ-TR criteria (affective disorders group) and their healthy spouses (conrol group) were recruited in this study (n=109 each).The first-degree relatives inclusion criteria were biological relatives of both probands aged over 55 years.Subjects were investigated by neuropsychological assessment,imaging and clinical examinations,and were diagnosed as AD according to the criteria of the United States of America neuropathy language disorders and stroke research institute and Alzheimer's disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA).Results 284 first-degree biological relatives of affective disorders patients and 274 first-degree relatives of control group were selected.There were no statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of the first-degree relatives between the two groups.The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in the first-degree relatives had a significant difference between affective disorders group and control group [10.6％ (30/284) vs.4.4％ (12/ 274),x2=7.47,P=0.006].The prevalence of AD in the first-degree relatives was higher in bipolar disorder and depressive disorder patients than in control group [11.2％ (14/125) vs.4.4％(12/274),20.0％ (15/75) vs.4.4％(12/274),x2=6.80,20.56,OR=2.60,4.63,both P＜0.05],while there was no significant difference in the prevalence of AD in the first-degree relatives between mania patients and control group [1.1％ (1/87) vs.4.4％ (12/274),x2 =1.99,P＞0.05].Conclusions There is a high risk for Alzheimer' s disease in first-degree relatives of patients with affective disorders,particularly in first-degree relatives of patients with depression and bipolar disorders.