EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN SKIN DOES NOT PREDICT DEMENTIA IN THE ELDERLY

We have previously reported that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF R) was expressed on vascular endothelial cells from postmortem specime ns of demented but not cognitively normal subjects. In the present stu dy, we examined skin biopsies from 35 living patients who were either normal or had a clinical diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease. In this living cohort, there was no correlation between the presence of vascular EGFR expression and clinically determined cognitive status. W hile a variety of factors may be responsible for these findings, endot helial EGFR expression cannot be used to confirm a premortem clinical diagnosis of dementia.