A Pilot Study to Examine the Correlation between Cognition and Blood Biomarkers in a Singapore Chinese Male Cohort with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 5; p. e96874
• Main Authors: Goh, Deborah Amanda, Dong, Yanhong, Lee, Wah Yean, Koay, Way Inn, Tay, Stephen Ziyang, Soon, Danny, Chen, Christopher, Brittain, Claire Frances, Lowe, Stephen Loucian, Wong, Boon-Seng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 09.05.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Aging; Alcohol; Alzheimer's disease; Alzheimers disease; Attention; Batteries; Biological markers; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Blood; Body mass; Cardiovascular disease; Cholesterol; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition - drug effects; Cognitive ability; Cohort Studies; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Dementia; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology; Diabetes therapy; Diabetics; Executive function; Executive Function - drug effects; Glucose; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Insulin; Insulin - blood; Insulin resistance; Lipids - blood; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins (high density); Lipoproteins (low density); Low density lipoprotein; Low density lipoproteins; Male; Males; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Middle Aged; Pharmacology; Physiology; Pilot Projects; Sensorimotor integration; Singapore - epidemiology; Statins; Triglycerides; Type 2 diabetes; Visual perception; Singapore
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096874

Diabetes is reported to be linked to poorer cognitive function. The purpose of this study is to examine (a) clinical correlation between cognitive function and the biochemical perturbations in T2DM, and (b) the impact of statin treatment on cognitive function in diabetic subjects. Forty Singaporean Chinese males with diabetes and twenty Singaporean Chinese males without diabetes were recruited for this study. Twenty-two of the diabetic subjects were on statin therapy and all subjects were non-demented. This was a 2-period non-interventional case-control study in which subjects were assessed for cognitive function in period 1 and blood samples taken over 2 periods, approximately 1 week apart. Blood was collected to determine the level of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides, glucose and insulin. Cognitive performance was measured by a neuropsychological battery covering domains of attention, language, verbal and visual memory, visuomotor speed and executive function. Z-scores were derived for each cognitive domain using the mean and standard deviations (SDs), and they were used to compare between (a) diabetic and non-diabetic groups, and (b) diabetic subjects with and without statin treatment. ANCOVAs with age, education, BMI, and the duration of diabetes as covariates were employed to examine differences in mean score of cognitive domains and subtests between the two groups. Overall cognitive function was similar among diabetics and age matched non-diabetic controls. Among diabetic statin users, HDL, LDL and total cholesterol were negatively correlated with executive function, whereas peripheral insulin levels and insulin resistance were negatively associated with attention. Diabetic statin users were likely to have poorer performance in attention and executive function. Increasing levels of the peripheral biomarkers are likely to contribute to poorer cognitive performance.