Verbal Episodic Memory and Endogenous Estradiol : An Association in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract EN

In the continuum of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and normal controls, a possible association of verbal memory and endogenous estradiol (E2) levels was investigated.

Verbal episodic memory was measured with a german version of the California verbal memory test (CVLT).

Results were controlled for apolipoprotein E (ApoE) phenotype.

We studied 37 controls, 32 MCIs and 117 ADs.

Groups differed in all trials of the CVLT (P<0.001) and in E2 levels (P<0.001).

E2 levels differed significantly between groups only among females (P<0.001).

In females correcting for age and ApoE, there was an overall correlation between CVLT delayed recall and level of E2 (P=0.025).

Stepwise regression analyses found E2 level to be a significant predictor for CVLT delayed recall (P<0.001).

It may be concluded that lower E2 levels occur more in the course of the disease than may be considered as a risk factor per se.