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Table 3 Changes in clinical assessments and vascular responses (in perfusion units) to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside in responders and non-responders, and the subsequent time course of decay in acetylcholine response to 50% of the peak value at baseline and following 6 months of treatment. Values are means ± SE

From: Peripheral vascular responses to acetylcholine as a predictive tool for response to cholinesterase inhibitors in Alzheimer’s disease

 

Non responder

Responder

Baseline

6 months

Baseline

6 months

Clinical parameters

 MMSE

23.4 ± 1.0

23.0 ± 0.9

24.4 ± 0.6

25.9 ± 0.6

 NOSGER IADL/SB

39.0 ± 2.2

35.9 ± 2.6*

36.8 ± 2.4

38.8 ± 2.2

 NOSGER Total

121.8 ± 4.8

116.2 ± 4.7

116.5 ± 5.5

120.7 ± 4.7

 DSST

16.6 ± 3.7

14.5 ± 3.8*

22.3 ± 2.5

25.1 ± 1.8

Vascular responses

 Basal perfusion (PU)

49 ± 12

51 ± 13

41 ± 10

43 ± 11

 Peak acetylcholine response (PU)

345 ± 77

361 ± 49

326 ± 43

409 ± 43**

 Peak sodium nitroprusside response (PU)

288 ± 68

296 ± 45

265 ± 36

366 ± 50***

 Acetylcholine 50% decay (secs)

400 ± 60

321 ± 32

230 ± 38¥

332 ± 42*

  1. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.005, comparing values at baseline versus 6 months within the two groups
  2. ¥ P < 0.05 comparing baseline acetylcholine 50% decay between non-responders and responders