Early neurotransmission impairment in non-invasive Alzheimer Disease detection

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 16396
• Main Authors: Peña-Bautista, Carmen, Torres-Cuevas, Isabel, Baquero, Miguel, Ferrer, Inés, García, Lorena, Vento, Máximo, Cháfer-Pericás, Consuelo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.10.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/45; 631/45/882; 692/53; 692/699; 692/699/375/132/1283; Acetylcholine; Acetylcholine - metabolism; Aged; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer's disease; Amino acids; Amino Acids - metabolism; Biomarkers - metabolism; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - metabolism; Cognitive Dysfunction - physiopathology; Creatine; Creatine - metabolism; Disease detection; Economic impact; Female; Glutamine; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Inositol; Inositol - metabolism; Male; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Multivariate analysis; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurotransmission; Saliva; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensitivity and Specificity; Statistical analysis; Synaptic Transmission - physiology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73362-z

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is a pathology suffered by millions of people worldwide and it has a great social and economic impact. Previous studies reported a relationship between alterations in different amino acids and derivatives involved in neurotransmission systems and cognitive impairment. Therefore, in this study the neurotransmission impairment associated to early AD has been evaluated. For this purpose, different amino acids and derivatives were determined in saliva samples from AD patients and healthy subjects, by means of an analytical method based on chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Results showed statistically significant differences in salivary levels for the compounds myo-inositol, creatine and acetylcholine; and other compounds (myo-inositol, glutamine, creatine, acetylcholine) showed significant correlations with some cognitive tests scores. Therefore, these compounds were included in a multivariate analysis and the corresponding diagnosis model showed promising indices (AUC 0.806, sensitivity 61%, specificity 92%). In conclusion, some amino acids and derivatives involved in neurotransmission impairment could be potential biomarkers in early and non-invasive AD detection.