A young case with multi-infarct dementia associated with lupus anticoagulant

Presence of Anticardiolipin Antibodies in Patients with Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Growing evidences are supporting towards the involvement of antiphospholipid antibodies [aPLs e.g., lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-β2-glycoprotein I (anti-β2-GPI) antibodies] in various neurological manifestations including migraine, epilepsy and dementia in the presence or absence of autoimmune diseases such as antiphospholipid syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the presence of aPLs in dementia patients without a diagnosis of any autoimmune disease. Electronic databases (e.g., PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar) were searched without any year or language restrictions and based on the inclusion criteria, nine prospective case-control studies assessing only aCL were included involving 372 dementia patients and 337 healthy controls. No studies were found to assess the presence of both LA or anti-β2-GPI. The study-specific odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects model. We observed the prevalence of aCL in dementia was higher (32.80%) than that of controls (9.50%) e.g., 3.45 times higher risk of presenting with dementia than the controls, and significant presence of aCL antibodies was detected in dementia patients compared to controls (OR: 4.94, 95% CI: 2.66 - 9.16, p < 0.00001; I² = 32%, p = 0.16). Publication bias was not observed from Egger's (p = 0.081) and Begg's tests (p = 0.180). Based on the study quality assessment using modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for case-control studies, seven of nine studies were of high methodological quality scoring ≥ 7 (median value). In summary, aCL antibodies were significantly present in dementia patients suggesting that aCL antibodies are generated due to the autoimmune-derived effects of dementia or there might be a potential causative role of this autoantibody in dementia pathogenesis.

Mania: psychiatric manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome

BACKGROUND

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a prothrombotic condition characterized by recurrent vascular thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity in the presence of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is a prominent feature of APS, and many neurological manifestations have been described in published reports. There are limited data on psychiatric syndromes occurring in association with APS, and there have been no previous reports of mania associated with APS.

METHOD

The authors present the case of a 31-year-old man who experienced an acute manic episode in association with APS. They review the literature on psychiatric manifestations of APS, discuss potential mechanisms of CNS pathogenesis, and consider diagnostic and treatment implications of the co-occurrence of APS and psychiatric symptoms.

Cerebral Manifestations in the Antiphospholipid (Hughes) Syndrome

The importance of cerebral disease in patients with the Hughes syndrome is now becoming more widely recognized. The range of neuropsychiatric manifestations of APS is comprehensive, and includes focal symptoms attributable to lesions in a specific area of the brain as well as diffuse or global dysfunction. Patients with APS frequently present with strokes and TIA, but a wide spectrum of other neurologic features-also including non thrombotic neurologic syndromes-has been described in association with the presence of aPL. The recognition of APS has had a profound impact on the understanding and management of the treatment of CNS manifestations associated with connective tissue diseases, in particular, SLE. Many patients with focal neurologic manifestations and aPL, who a few years ago would have received high-dose corticosteroids or immunosuppression, are often successfully treated with anticoagulation. In our opinion, testing for aPL may have a major diagnostic and therapeutic impact not only in patients with autoimmune diseases and neuropsychiatric manifestations, but also in young individuals who develop cerebral ischemia, in those with atypical multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, and atypical seizures. We would also recommend testing for aPL for young individuals found with multiple hyperintensity lesions on brain MRI in the absence of other possible causes,especially when under the age of 40 years. It is our practice to anticoagulate patients with aPL suffering from cerebral ischemia with a target INR of 3.0 to prevent recurrences. Low-dose aspirin alone (with occasional exceptions)does not seem helpful to prevent recurrent thrombosis in these patients. Our recommendation, once the patient has had a proven thrombosis associated with aPL, is long-term (possibly life-long) warfarin therapy. Oral anti coagulation carries a risk of hemorrhage, but in our experience the risk of serious bleeding in patients with APS and previous thrombosis treated with oral anticoagulation to a target INR of 3.5 was similar to that in groups of patients treated with lower target ratios. Although a double-blind crossover trial comparing low molecular weight heparin with placebo in patients with aPL and chronic headaches did not show a significant difference in the beneficial effect of low molecular weight heparin versus placebo, in our experience selected patients with aPL and neuropsychiatric manifestations such as seizures, severe cognitive dys-function, and intractable headaches unresponsive to conventional treatment may respond to anticoagulant treatment. The neurologic ramifications of Hughes syndrome are extensive, and it behoves clinicians in all specialties to be aware of this syndrome because treatment with anticoagulation may profoundly change the outlook for these patients.

Hughes syndrome, the antiphospholipid syndrome: a new chapter in neurology

The importance of cerebral disease in patients with the antiphospholipid (Hughes) syndrome (APS) is now becoming more widely recognized. The range of neuropsychiatric manifestations of APS is comprehensive and includes focal symptoms attributable to lesions in a specific area of the brain as well as diffuse or global dysfunction. Patients with APS frequently present with strokes and transient ischemic attacks, but a wide spectrum of other neurologic features, also including nonthrombotic neurological syndromes, has been described in association with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. In this review, we attempt to highlight the large variety of the neurological features of APS.

Neuronal-binding antibodies from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome induce cognitive deficits following intrathecal passive transfer

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) have been suggested to play a role in causing cognitive and behavioral impairments. In the present study we investigated the pathogenic potential of aPL by intracerebro-ventricular (ICV) administration of immunoglobulins (IgG) from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). IgG, purified from the sera of four APS patients, was tested for binding to normal mouse brain by immunohistological staining. These IgG (7.5 microg) were injected ICV unilaterally to male C3H mice. Mice injected with IgG purified from pooled sera derived from healthy subjects served as controls. The mice were examined neurologically for motor function and coordination, and cognitively in a Morris water maze. The cognitive tests were performed with the experimenter blinded to the treatment. The performance of the mice in four separate experiments was compared by analysis of variance with repeated measures. IgG from one APS patient was found to bind best to neuronal structures in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Mice (n = 43) injected with this IgG performed worse in the water maze compared to the controls (n = 45) with significant effects of the aPL IgG on the overall performance of the mice (treatment, P < 0.03), on learning throughout the experiment (treatment x day, P < 0.02) and on short term memory (treatment x day xtrial, P < 0.002). IgG injected from two of the three other patients also bound specifically to mouse brain neurons and produced an impairment in performance of the water maze. These results support the hypothesis that aPL that gain access to the central nervous system may play a direct role in the pathogenesis of neurological manifestations of APS.

A review of neurological sequelae and cognitive deficits associated with antiphospholipid antibodies

Antiphospholipid Antibodies (aPAs) are specific circulating immunoglobulins that lead to a hypercoagulant state and recurrent arterial and venous thromboembolic events. The cerebral circulation is the most common site of arterial occlusion in aPAs, and neurologic events include amaurosis fugax, migrainous cephalalgia, transient ischemic attacks (TIA), stroke, ischemic encephalopathy, and vascular dementia. A review of the literature yields numerous studies citing neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with this syndrome in a much younger population than is seen in other cerebrovascular disorders. These associated features include focal and generalized cognitive deficits, early-onset vascular dementia, and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as affective and thought disorders. These neurocognitive and neurobehavioral manifestations may be underemphasized in this population and aPAs should be considered in a differential diagnosis. Largescale prospective studies are needed to quantify psychiatric and neuropsychological sequelae of this disorder.