Blood copper excess is associated with mild cognitive impairment in elderly Chinese.

Abstract

Copper is associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, there is a lack of relevant population studies with large sample sizes. This study used baseline data from a cohort study to determine the distribution characteristics of MCI in the elderly and to estimate the association between whole blood copper concentrations and MCI. MCI status was screened by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. The concentration of copper in whole blood was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). A total of 1057 subjects with an average age of 71.82 ± 6.45years were included in this study. There were 215 patients with MCI, and the prevalence of MCI was 20.34%. After adjusting for general demographic variables, logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of MCI in the elderly with high copper level was 1.354 times higher than that in the elderly with low copper level (OR 1.354, 95% CI 1.047-1.983, P = 0.034). In this study, it was found that the prevalence of MCI was different in gender, age, education level and other aspects, and a higher copper level in the elderly was significantly related to the occurrence of MCI. The association was stronger in older adults and men.