CORRELATION OF AGGREGATED BETA AMYLOID LEVEL IN PLASMA WITH MOCA AND MMSE AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA

Abstract

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and decline in cognitive functions have been studied in recent years; however, no clear evidence of association has been found yet. As potential biomarker for AD, aggregated beta amyloid level in plasma is likewise under study by some medical researchers. We examined the correlation between plasma beta amyloid levels and cognitive functions of Type 2 DM patients with Dementia as indicated by their neurocognitive assessment scores with the end in view of finding a less invasive early detection of AD among diabetic patients. In this Cross Sectional study, 100 Type 2 DM patients with dementia (39% male, 68.71 ± 6.9 years) underwent plain cranial CT scan, plasma beta amyloid, Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tests. Patients were categorized as having Vascular or Non Vascular Dementia with the use of NINDS-AIREN Criteria for Vascular Dementia. Elevated aggregated beta amyloid level in plasma (≥ 1.1 pg/ml) was used as biomarker for AD. Among Type 2 DM patients with dementia, there was an increased prevalence of AD (46.7%) as shown by the elevated beta amyloid level independent of Vascular Dementia. The prevalence of vascular dementia was 6%. Among patients with Non Vascular Dementia, majority (51.3%) had elevated beta amyloid. There was no significant correlation between MMSE score and beta amyloid (r= - 0.0192, p = 0.8557), while no significant correlation between MoCA score and beta amyloid (r=0.0939, p=0.3731) among Type 2 DM patients with Dementia. The results did not show significant correlation between both MMSE (r=−0.0664, p=0.6725) and MoCA scores (r=- 0.0877, p=0.5759) with beta amyloid level among those patients with AD. Using the beta amyloid as a biomarker, the study suggests a link between AD and Type 2 DM; however, we recommend that further researches be conducted to ascertain the use of aggregated beta amyloid level in plasma as a less invasive screening routine for AD among Type 2 DM patients with dementia.