Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;19(3):839-48. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2010-1282.
An inverted U-shape function between cortisol levels and memory performance has been reported in studies on both young animals and humans. Yet little is known about this relationship in normal aging or in older subjects with cognitive impairment. This issue is particularly significant since increased levels of cortisol have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study examined the association between cortisol levels and visual memory performance in healthy subjects as well as in individuals presenting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Salivary cortisol was measured in 40 healthy elderly subjects, 31 individuals with amnestic MCI, and 40 subjects with mild probable AD. Memory performance was evaluated using the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery. Higher cortisol levels were associated with better memory performance in healthy elderly (p=0.005), while higher cortisol levels were correlated with poorer memory performance in MCI subjects (p=0.011). No correlation between cortisol and memory was found in the AD group (p > 0.05). These results suggest that the relationship between cortisol levels and memory performance in the aging process could vary according to the presence or absence of cognitive impairment.
在对年轻动物和人类的研究中，已经报道了皮质醇水平与记忆表现之间呈倒 U 型关系。然而，对于正常衰老或认知障碍的老年人中这种关系知之甚少。由于在阿尔茨海默病（AD）中已经报道了皮质醇水平的增加，因此这个问题尤其重要。本研究在健康受试者以及轻度认知障碍（MCI）或 AD 患者中检查了皮质醇水平与视觉记忆表现之间的关系。在 40 名健康老年人、31 名遗忘型 MCI 患者和 40 名轻度可能的 AD 患者中测量了唾液皮质醇。使用简短认知筛查电池评估记忆表现。在健康老年人中，较高的皮质醇水平与更好的记忆表现相关（p=0.005），而在 MCI 受试者中，较高的皮质醇水平与较差的记忆表现相关（p=0.011）。在 AD 组中未发现皮质醇与记忆之间存在相关性（p>0.05）。这些结果表明，皮质醇水平与衰老过程中记忆表现之间的关系可能根据认知障碍的存在与否而有所不同。
