An elaborative NMR based plasma metabolomics study revealed metabolic derangements in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a study on north Indian population

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is transition phase between cognitive decline and dementia. The current study aims to investigate altered metabolic pattern in plasma of MCI for potential biomarkers. MCI (N = 50) and healthy controls (HC, N = 50) age group 55–75 years were screened based on Mini Mental State Examination Test (MMSE) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI imaging). The MMSE score of MCI was significantly lower (25.74 ± 1.83) compared to healthy control subjects (29 ± 1). The MCI patients exhibit significant changes in white matter integrity in the right frontal lobe, right temporal lobe, left frontal lobe, forcep major, fornix, corpus callosum. Further, the plasma samples of twenty seven MCI patients (N = 27) and twenty HC subjects (N = 20; having no significant differences in any demographics) were analyzed using 1H NMR based metabolomics approach. Consistent with many previous reports, the levels of several plasma metabolites were found to be elevated in MCI patients compared to healthy controls. Further univariate and multivariate ROC curve analyses provided three plasma metabolites as a diagnostic panel of biomarker for MCI; which are lysine, glycine, and glutamine. Overall, the results of this study will help to improve the diagnostic and prognostic strategies of MCI in addition to improving our understanding about disease pathogenesis. We believe that the over-nutritional metabolic phenotype of MCI needs to be targeted for developing future dietary interventions so that the progression of MCI can be limited. Graphical abstract: Metabolic derangements associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.