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Aggressive Behavior and Neuroleptic Medication Are Associated With Increased Number of Alpha1-Adrenoceptors in Patients With Alzheimer Disease

From King’s College London (SIS, CGB, PTF), Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, London, U.K.; and the Department of Neurology (CPL-HC), National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.

Objective: Aggressive behavior in dementia is a major clinical management problem.

Method: Postmortem brain tissue was obtained from 24 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and 25 comparison cases. [³H] Prazosin binding to ₁-AdR was determined.

Results: Aggressive behavior was significantly correlated with ₁-adrenoceptor number in patients with AD (R_s=0.454, N=24). Furthermore, patients receiving ongoing neuroleptics had significantly higher B_max for [³H] prazosin (21 ± 2, N=9) than those who were not (16 ± 1, N=15).

Conclusions: Upregulation of ₁-AdR is associated with aggressive behavior and chronic treatment with neuroleptic medication.

Key Words: Alzheimer disease • neuroleptics • alpha-1 adrenoceptors

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