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Previous studies have focused on the curative effects of memantine in patients with mild-to-moderate frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD); however, its benefits in patients with moderate-to-severe FTLD have not been investigated. The present study explores the behavioral, cognitive and functional effects of memantine on behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) in patients with mild and moderate-to-severe stage bvFTD. A total of 42 patients with bvFTD completed a 6-month treatment plan of 20 mg memantine daily in an open-label, self-controlled clinical trial. Patients were divided into two groups according to their Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score: Mild (score, 21-26); and moderate-to-severe (score, 4-20). Primary endpoints included Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) and Clinic Dementia Rating (CDR) scores, and secondary endpoints comprised Neuropsychiatric Inventory Caregiver Distress Scale (NPI-D), MMSE, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Activity of Daily Life (ADL) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores. Memantine treatment had no effect on overall NPI-Q scores, with the exception of the agitation subdomain in all patients with bvFTD. However, patients with moderate-to-severe bvFTD exhibited a better performance than patients with mild bvFTD, demonstrated by improved NPI-Q total scores and subscales of agitation, depression, apathy and disinhibition. In the moderate-to-severe group, CDR and HAMD scores remained stable, but MMSE, MoCA and ADL scores were reduced after 6 months of treatment. Memantine was well-tolerated in patients. In conclusion, patients with moderate-to-severe bvFTD responded significantly better to memantine in comparison to patients with mild bvFTD with regard to their neuropsychiatric scores, while memantine did not present any cognitive or functional benefits in patients with mild bvFTD. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with a larger number of patients is required to verify these promising results for patients with moderate-to-severe bvFTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) is one of the most popular and frequently used instruments for assessing so-called challenging behavior in individuals with dementia in research practice. However, no information is available regarding the factor structure of the German version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory - Nursing Home (NPI-NH). The aim of this study was to evaluate the factor structure (an aspect of construct validity) and internal consistency of the NPI-NH for two different stages of dementia severity in a large German nursing home population.Methods: A total of 784 residents with dementia from 40 nursing homes in three studies was included in a secondary data analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) using an orthogonal rotational procedure (with varimax rotation) was used to evaluate the factor structure of the NPI. Cronbach's α was used to assess the stability of the scale.Results: The factors agitation & restless behavior, psychosis, and mood were identified (with factor loading > 0.4 explaining 50% of the variance). The factors showed a moderate internal consistency of 0.55 and 0.68 (Cronbach's α).Conclusions: The results show the acceptable factor structure of the NPI for a German population in nursing homes and confirm the results of studies from other countries. The three identified factors appear to be robust over the various stages of dementia severity. The results also support the hypothesis that the NPI-NH can be subdivided into multiple domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study forms part of a larger European programme investigating the transition from home care to long-term care (LTC) facility in people with dementia (PwD) at the margins of LTC. The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with depressive symptomatology in PwD in different settings.Methods: A total of 1,538 PwD, of which 957 received home care and 581 lived in a LTC facility, and their carers were interviewed. The Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) measured depressive symptomatology. PwD completed measures of cognition and quality of life (QoL), and informal or formal carers completed measures on the PwD' QoL, neuropsychiatric behavior, activities of daily living, comorbidities, pain, and falls. Logistic regression was used to assess which factors contributed to depressive symptomatology in the two settings.Results: Those receiving home care, living in Germany, and with severe dementia, showed the highest prevalence of depressive symptomatology. In the home care group, high levels of pain, neuropsychiatric behavior, and comorbidity, as well as low self- and proxy-rated QoL were factors associated with depressive symptomatology. In the LTC group, low proxy-rated QoL, more severe neuropsychiatric behavior, being a male informal carer and living in Germany were associated with depressive symptomatology.Conclusions: Evidence highlights the need for targeting different aspects in the management of depression in dementia, including offering improved pain management for those living in the community. Further research needs to explore cultural variations and carer gender factors associated with higher levels of depressive symptomatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Depression is a common comorbid disorder of dementia. This study explores the prevalence of and factors associated with depressive symptomatology, and antidepressant prescription rates in severe dementia across eight European countries.Methods:In total, 414 people with severe dementia completed measures of cognition and quality of life (QoL), whilst carers completed proxy measures of activities of daily living (ADLs), depression, neuropsychiatric symptoms, QoL and comorbidity.Results:Findings indicated that 30% of the sample had depression, whilst the highest and lowest prevalence of depression was reported in Germany and Finland, respectively. Lower QoL, the presence of pain and more frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with depressive symptomatology, whilst no significant relationship between impairment of ADLs, comorbidity, and depression emerged. Spain and Estonia had the highest and lowest rates of antidepressant prescribing, respectively, whilst Germany had the highest discrepancy between depressive symptomatology and prescription.Conclusions:The study highlights variations across countries in the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in severe dementia and prescription of antidepressants. Information about factors associated with depressive symptomatology may help to better identify and manage depression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Emotional and social behaviors are disrupted in the BACHD mouse model. • Parallel aberrations in the dynamic interplay between oxytocin and vasopressin. • Restoring the blunted levels of oxytocin rescues the depressive-like phenotype. Neuropsychiatric disturbances with altered social cognition, depression and anxiety are among the most debilitating early features in the fatal neurodegenerative disorder Huntington disease (HD) which is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. The underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not known. Neuropathological analyses of postmortem human HD hypothalamic tissue have demonstrated loss of the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin. The dynamic interplay between these neuropeptides is crucial for modulating emotional and social behavior but its role in HD is unclear. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of expressing the mutant huntingtin gene on the development of behavioral changes using the transgenic BACHD mouse model at different ages. We show for the first time that BACHD mice exhibit deficits in social behavior with parallel aberrations in the balance of the oxytocin-vasopressin system. Importantly, our data also show that restoration of the interplay within the system with an acute dose of intranasal oxytocin immediately prior to behavioral testing can rescue the depressive-like phenotype but not anxiety-like behavior in this transgenic model. These findings demonstrate that imbalances in the oxytocin-vasopressin interplay contribute to the neuropsychiatric component of HD and suggest that interventions aimed at restoring the blunted levels of oxytocin may confer therapeutic benefits for this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]