They use this information in a Bayesian www.selleckchem.com/products/wortmannin.html statistical model that is designed to separate out the effects of different cognitive functions on the NP outcomes. Based on NP data collected in MCI subjects in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study, the approach yielded several potential combinations of cutoffs for baseline NP test scores and apolipoprotein E (APOE) status values which predict imminent risk of progression to AD over the course of a 24-month period. Importantly, the authors also illustrate that more commonly applied methods, such as factor analysis and logistic regression, are not able to achieve the same level of success in predicting a diagnosis of AD, presumably because the specific domains are not able to be separated with those models.
Separation of specific domains also allows grouping of the specific combinations of deficits into diagnostic subgroups (for example, amnestic single-domain MCI, amnestic multidomain MCI, and non-amnestic multidomain MCI) which then can be analyzed in terms of biomarkers and disease outcomes. Conclusions The ultimate validation of the method awaits replication in larger, more diverse MCI populations, as the authors acknowledge, although the method appears promising. Many different statistical approaches are currently being applied to clinical outcomes in order to identify patients who will progress to AD or patients who will have different decline rates over time. The results from these analyses can be used to help us identify a particular population and then a sensitive clinical outcome for study in a clinical trial that will result in improved power for detecting a difference.
These results may also be helpful for identifying important stratification variables to include in a statistical model for analyzing the data from a clinical trial. Ultimately, these different statistical approaches will be evaluated by comparing their success in predicting conversion or maximizing decline rates in new populations. Abbreviations AD: Alzheimer’s disease; MCI: mild cognitive impairment; NP: neuropsychological. Competing interests SBH is president and owner of Pentara Corporation (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), a consulting firm that consults with several pharmaceutical companies and non-profit groups that are conducting clinical trials in AD. KAW-B declares that she has no competing interests.
Notes See related research by Tatsuoka et al., http://alzres.com/content/5/2/14
Extensive LC degeneration is nearly universal in AD [9-13] and is among the earliest pathologies [11,14,15], with LC neuropathology detectable as early as 10 years before neurocognitive signs [16-18]. Alterations in NE have long been known to be AV-951 linked to cognitive, mood and selleck compound neuropsychiatric symptoms [6,19-24]. A number of studies have also demonstrated significant correlations between LC cell death (or decreased cortical NE levels) and severity and duration of dementia in AD [25,26].
No related posts.