2022.02.07
Development of a novel nutrition-related multivariate biomarker for mild cognitive impairment based on the plasma free amino acid profile
(Nutrients. 2022, 14(3), 637; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030637)
Ikeuchi T1, Yano Y2, Sato W2, Morikawa F3, Toru S4, Nishimura C5, Miyazawa N6, Kuroha Y7, Koike R7, Tanaka S8, Utsumi K9, Kasuga K1, Tokutake T1,10, Ono K11, Yano S11, Naruse S12, Yajima R12, Hamano T13, Yokoyama Y14, Kitamura A14, Kaneko E15, Yamakado M16, Nagao K2
1 Department of Molecular Genetics, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University
2 Research Institute for Bioscience Products & Fine Chemicals, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
3 Department of Psychiatry, Asahikawa Keisenkai Hospital
4 Department of Neurology, Nitobe Memorial Nakano General Hospital
5 Kurumi Clinic
6 Department of Neurosurgery, Kofu Neurosurgical Hospital
7 Department of Neurology, Nishiniigata Chuo Hospital
8 Mishima Hospital
9 Department of Psychiatry, Sunagawa City Medical Center
10 Department of Neurology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University
11 Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine
12 Department of Neurology, Midori Hospital
13 Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui
14 Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology
15 Institute of Education, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
16 Department of Nursing, Ashikaga University
Abstract
Nutritional epidemiology has shown the importance of protein intake for maintaining brain function in the elderly population. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may be associated with malnutrition, especially protein intake. We explored blood-based biomarkers linking protein nutritional status with MCI in a multicenter study. In total, 219 individuals with MCI (79.5 ± 5.7 y) from 10 institutions and 220 individuals who were cognitively normal (CN, 76.3 ± 6.6 y) in four different cities in Japan were recruited. They were divided into the training (120 MCI and 120 CN) and validation (99 MCI and 100 CN) groups. A model involving concentrations of PFAAs and albumin to discriminate MCI from CN individuals was constructed by multivariate logistic regression analysis in the training dataset, and the performance was evaluated in the validation dataset. The concentrations of some essential amino acids and albumin were significantly lower in MCI group than CN group. An index incorporating albumin and PFAA discriminated MCI from CN participants with the AUC of 0.705 (95% CI: 0.632-0.778), and the sensitivities at specificities of 90% and 60% were 25.3% and 76.8%, respectively. No significant association with BMI or APOE status was observed. This cross-sectional study suggests that the biomarker changes in MCI group may be associated with protein nutrition.
