Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Increased risk of dementia among chronic osteomyelitis patients

  • Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Inflammatory processes may trigger neuroinflammation and cerebrovascular dysfunctions, further provoking dementia. The role of chronic osteomyelitis (COM), a disorder characterized by persistent inflammation, in dementia development has not been fully explored. This study investigates whether COM increases the risk of dementia. Taiwanese National Health Insurance (NHI) inpatient claims were used to identify 17,238 patients newly diagnosed with COM from 2000 to 2008, and 68,944 age- and gender-matched patients without COM were randomly selected for comparison. Risks of dementia associated with COM and comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes, stroke, hyperlipidemia, and depression, were evaluated using data from the end of 2011. Dementia risk was 1.6-fold higher (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–1.83) in the COM cohort than in the control group, calculated using the multivariable Cox model. Age-specific analysis indicated that the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of dementia for COM patients decreased with age, with an aHR of 3.65 (95 % CI: 1.5–8.9) for patients <55 years old, which gradually decreased to 1.43 (95 % CI: 1.23–1.66) for patients ≥70 years old. Dementia risk increased with COM severity, with an aHR of 5.48 (95 % CI: 4.43–6.79) for patients with severe COM. For those without comorbidities, dementia risk was 1.73-fold (95 % CI: 1.37–2.17) higher in the COM cohort than in the control group. This study is the first to find that COM is an inflammatory disorder associated with an increased risk of dementia, particularly among younger people.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Prince M (2007) Epidemiology of dementia. Psychiatry 6:488–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wimo A, Jönsson L, Bond J et al (2013) The worldwide economic impact of dementia 2010. Alzheimers Dement 9:1–11.e3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Jönsson L, Eriksdotter Jönhagen M, Kilander L et al (2006) Determinants of costs of care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 21:449–459

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Heneka MT, O’Banion MK (2007) Inflammatory processes in Alzheimer’s disease. J Neuroimmunol 184:69–91

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Grammas P (2011) Neurovascular dysfunction, inflammation and endothelial activation: implications for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. J Neuroinflammation 8:26

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Iadecola C (2010) The overlap between neurodegenerative and vascular factors in the pathogenesis of dementia. Acta Neuropathol 120:287–296

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. McCullagh CD, Craig D, McIlroy SP et al (2001) Risk factors for dementia. Adv Psychiatr Treat 7:24–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Patterson C, Feightner J, Garcia A et al (2007) Primary prevention of dementia. Alzheimers Dement 3:348–354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fernández Martínez M, Castro Flores J, Pérez de Las Heras S et al (2008) Risk factors for dementia in the epidemiological study of Munguialde County (Basque Country-Spain). BMC Neurol 8:39

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Patterson C, Feightner J, Garcia A et al (2007) General risk factors for dementia: a systematic evidence review. Alzheimers Dement 3:341–347

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Leonard BE (2007) Inflammation, depression and dementia: are they connected? Neurochem Res 32:1749–1756

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wuwongse S, Chang RC, Law AC (2010) The putative neurodegenerative links between depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Prog Neurobiol 91:362–375

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Engelhart MJ, Geerlings MI, Meijer J et al (2004) Inflammatory proteins in plasma and the risk of dementia: the Rotterdam study. Arch Neurol 61:668–672

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Dziedzic T (2006) Systemic inflammatory markers and risk of dementia. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen 21:258–262

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Schmidt R, Schmidt H, Curb JD et al (2002) Early inflammation and dementia: a 25-year follow-up of the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. Ann Neurol 52:168–174

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Itzhaki RF, Wozniak MA (2008) Herpes simplex virus type 1 in Alzheimer’s disease: the enemy within. J Alzheimers Dis 13:393–405

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Wang T, Rumbaugh JA, Nath A (2006) Viruses and the brain: from inflammation to dementia. Clin Sci (London) 110:393–407

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Foley J, Ettenhofer M, Wright MJ et al (2010) Neurocognitive functioning in HIV-1 infection: effects of cerebrovascular risk factors and age. Clin Neuropsychol 24:265–285

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. DeSousa EA, Albert RH, Kalman B (2002) Cognitive impairments in multiple sclerosis: a review. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen 17:23–29

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Zarei M, Chandran S, Compston A et al (2003) Cognitive presentation of multiple sclerosis: evidence for a cortical variant. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 74:872–877

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Kozora E, Hanly JG, Lapteva L et al (2008) Cognitive dysfunction in systemic lupus erythematosus: past, present, and future. Arthritis Rheum 58:3286–3298

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Brey RL (2007) Neuropsychiatric lupus: clinical and imaging aspects. Bull NYU Hosp Jt Dis 65:194–199

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Lankarani-Fard A, Liu PY, Fang MA (2009) Osteomyelitis and septic arthritis. In: Yoshikawa TT, Norman DC (eds) Infectious disease in the aging: a clinical handbook. Humana Press, New York, pp 201–217

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Tseng CH, Chen JH, Muo CH et al (2014) Increased risk of ischaemic stroke amongst patients with chronic osteomyelitis: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan. Eur J Neurol. doi:10.1111/ene.12387

    Google Scholar 

  25. Smith IM, Austin OMB, Batchelor AG (2006) The treatment of chronic osteomyelitis: a 10 year audit. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 59:11–15

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Zuluaga AF, Galvis W, Saldarriaga JG et al (2006) Etiologic diagnosis of chronic osteomyelitis: a prospective study. Arch Intern Med 166:95–100

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Gorelick PB (2004) Risk factors for vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease. Stroke 35:2620–2622

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Rabins PV (2007) Do we know enough to begin prevention interventions for dementia? Alzheimers Dement 3:S86–S88

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Sundar U, Sharma A, Yeolekar ME (2004) Presenile dementia—etiology, clinical profile and treatment response at four month follow up. J Assoc Physicians India 52:953–958

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Breteler MMB (2000) Vascular risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease: an epidemiologic perspective. Neurobiol Aging 21:153–160

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Luchsinger JA, Reitz C, Honig LS et al (2005) Aggregation of vascular risk factors and risk of incident Alzheimer disease. Neurology 65:545–551

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan (2012) Taiwan tobacco control annual report 2012. Department of Health, Taiwan, Taipei

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Health Research Institute in Taiwan for making available the insurance claims data for analyses. We also thank Professors Chi-Pang Wen and Chung Y. Hsu for their critical comments.

Funding and grant support

This work was supported by the study projects of China Medical University Hospital (DMR-103-012 and DMR-103-020); Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence (MOHW103-TDU-B-212-113002); Health and welfare surcharge of tobacco products, China Medical University Hospital Cancer Research Center of Excellence (MOHW103-TD-B-111-03, Taiwan). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C.-H. Kao.

Additional information

Chun-Hung Tseng and Wei-Shih Huang contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tseng, CH., Huang, WS., Muo, CH. et al. Increased risk of dementia among chronic osteomyelitis patients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 34, 153–159 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-014-2200-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-014-2200-1

Keywords

Navigation