Spermidine in dementia Relation to age and memory performance

• Published in: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift Vol. 132; no. 1-2; pp. 42 - 46
• Main Authors: Pekar, Thomas, Wendzel, Aribert, Flak, Walter, Kremer, Alexandra, Pauschenwein-Frantsich, Susanne, Gschaider, Anna, Wantke, Felix, Jarisch, Reinhart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Dementia - blood; Dementia - diagnosis; Endocrinology; Gastroenterology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Memory; Mental Status and Dementia Tests; Middle Aged; Original; Original Article; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Spermidine - blood; Alzheimer’s disease; Memory performance; CERAD Plus; Spermidine; Dementia
• ISSN: 0043-5325; 1613-7671; 1613-7671
• DOI: 10.1007/s00508-019-01588-7

Summary Previous studies have highlighted that spermidine has the ability to trigger the important process of dissolving amyloid-beta plaques by autophagy. This manuscript focuses on the correlation of serum spermidine levels between age and between performance in mini-mental state examinations. It will serve as a premise for an ongoing multicentric placebo-controlled study, which focuses on the effect of oral spermidine supplementation on memory performance. Memory tests were carried out on 80 subjects aged 60–96 years old in 6 nursing homes in Styria. Blood samples were taken for the determination of spermidine concentration. The results showed a significant correlation between the spermidine concentration and the mini-mental state examination score ( p  = 0.025). On the basis of the dependence demonstrated it can be concluded that spermidine might be suitable as a biomarker for the diagnosis of neurocognitive changes (senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease).