Document Type
Article
Department
Brain and Mind Institute
Abstract
Background: Over 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, with more than60% residing in low- and middle-income countries. Alzheimer’s disease, the mostcommon form of dementia, accounts for 60–70% of cases. Early and accurate diagnosisremains a global challenge, necessitating novel approaches to mitigate the diseaseburden. Biomarkers hold significant promise in improving diagnostic accuracy andpredicting disease progression. Validated biomarkers for the preclinical stages ofdementia are crucial for advancing diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. We aimedto identify potential clinical markers for early dementia detection and assess theirpredictive accuracy in identifying high-risk individuals.
Method: We analyzed blood samples from dementia cases (n = 30) and controls(n = 75) for clinical parameters, including renal and liver function tests, lipid profiles,thyroid function tests, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), vitamin B12, and fastingglucose.
Result: Dementia cases showed significantly elevated high-density lipoprotein (HDL),free thyroxine (FT4), and vitamin B-12 (P = 0.0002, P = 0.015, and P = 0.004,respectively) compared to controls. We also observed significant reductions in GFR,free triiodothyronine (FT3), and the cholesterol-to-HDL ratio (P = 0.003, P = 0.0002,and P = 0.05, respectively). Logistic regression confirmed associations between HDL(Odds: 10.8, 95% CI: 0.34–5.01, P = 0.04) and FT4 (Odds: 33.78, 95% CI: 0.64–7.20,P = 0.028) with dementia after adjusting for age and sex. Vitamin B-12, FT3, GFR,and the cholesterol-to-HDL ratio were not significantly associated with dementia (P> 0.05). Predictive models demonstrated strong performance (R2 = 0.47–0.52).
Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated the potential of HDL and FT4 as blood-based clinical markers for early detection of cognitive impairment and dementia.
AKU Student
no
Publication (Name of Journal)
Alzheimer's Association
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70856_103368
Recommended Citation
Aliwa, B.,
Shah, J.,
Taylor,, O. N.,
Nguku, S.,
Hooker, J.,
Sokhi, D.,
Mbugua, S.,
Musili, L.,
Maina, R.,
Kaleli, H.,
Muyela, L.,
Gitere, A. N.,
Nyambura, A.,
Merali, Z.,
Blackmon, K.,
Momoh, C.
(2025). Blood-based clinical markers for early dementia detection: Insights from AD-DETECT-Cohort. Alzheimer's Association, 21(2), 1-2.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/bmi/487
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.