Association of plasma endothelial lipase levels on cognitive impairment

• Published in: BMC psychiatry Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 187
• Main Authors: Yun, Sang-Moon, Park, Jee-Yun, Seo, Sang Won, Song, Jihyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 19.06.2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Advertising executives; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - diagnostic imaging; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Alzheimer’s diseases (AD); Biomarkers - blood; Blood tests; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - metabolism; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Clinical dementia rating (CDR); Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - blood; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnostic imaging; Cognitive Dysfunction - psychology; Cognitive impairment; Community; Complementarity-determining region 1; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Development and progression; Endothelial lipase (EL); Endothelium; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Female; HDL cholesterol; High density lipoprotein; High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C); Humans; Infections; Inflammation; Lipase; Lipase - blood; Lipids; Male; Memory; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Prospective Studies; Psychiatry; Risk factors; Semantics; Tumors; Alzheimer’s diseases (AD); Clinical dementia rating (CDR); Endothelial lipase (EL); High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C); Cognitive impairment
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-019-2174-8

Peripheral high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) has been known to influx into the brain and be inversely associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, recent prospective studies of the association between HDL-C and AD have yielded inconsistent results. Here, we examined the association between the endothelial lipase (EL), which is known to be major determinant of HDL-C levels, and cognitive function. We compared plasma from 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 38 persons with mild cognitive impairment, and 51 cognitively normal controls. Plasma EL levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. EL levels were inversely correlated with HDL-C, as previously reported; however, there were no mean differences in plasma EL between the diagnostic groups. An analysis by classification of dementia severity according to clinical dementia rating (CDR) showed that the EL levels were significantly higher in the CDR1 group (mild dementia), as compared to CDR0 (no dementia), CDR0.5 (very mild), and CDR2 (moderate) groups. Prior to moderate dementia stage, trends analysis showed that EL levels tended to increase with increasing severity (p for trend = 0.013). Consistently, elevated EL levels were significantly correlated with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score (r = - 0.29, p = 0.003). Logistic regression for association between plasma EL and cognitive impairment (MMSE score ≤ 25) showed that participants with EL levels in the upper range (> 31.6 ng/ml) have a higher adjusted odds ratio of cognitive impairment than those within the lower EL range. Findings from the present study reflect the association of EL and cognition, suggesting that the individuals with elevated plasma EL concentration are at an increased risk of cognitive impairment.