Effects of Collagen Hydrolysates on Human Brain Structure and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Clinical Study

Seiko Koizumi,Fumihito Sugihara,Michiya Igase,Naoki Inoue

doi:10.3390/nu12010050

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of collagen hydrolysates (CH) on language cognitive function and brain structure. In this open-label study, 5 g CH was administered once a day for 4 weeks to 30 healthy participants aged 49–63 years. The primary outcome measures were the brain healthcare quotients based on gray matter volume (GM-BHQ) and fractional anisotropy (FA-BHQ). The secondary outcome measures were changes in scores between week 0 and week 4 for word list memory (WLM) and standard verbal paired associate learning (S-PA) tests as well as changes in the physical, mental, and role/social component summary scores of the Short Form-36(SF-36) quality of life instrument. CH ingestion resulted in significant improvements in FA-BHQ (p = 0.0095), a measure of brain structure, as well in scores for the WLM (p = 0.0046) and S-PA (p = 0.0007) tests, which measure cognitive function. There were moderate correlations between the change in WLM score and the change in GM-BHQ (r = 0.4448; Spearman’s rank correlation) and between the change in S-PA score and the change in FA-BHQ (r = 0.4645). Daily ingestion of CH changed brain structure and improved language cognitive function.

Highlights

We investigated the impact of oral collagen hydrolysates (CH) ingestion on structural changes in the brain, as well as cognitive function, in a clinical pilot study that involved healthy individuals
The total number of participants was 29, with 24 undergoing the standard verbal paired associate learning (S-PA) test according to the protocol (Table 1)
In a clinical trial in which CH was administered to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), we previously demonstrated reductions in the levels of serum hemoglobin A1c, fasting blood glucose, and HOMA-IR, indicating improved insulin resistance [11]

Summary

Introduction

The substantial increase in the proportion of the population aged over 65 years in Japan has been associated with an increase in the prevalence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease [1]. The global incidence of dementia was 46.8 million in. 2015, and it is expected to increase to 74.7 million by 2030 and 131.5 million by 2050 [2]. Therapeutic interventions to target the modifiable risk factors of dementia are critical in the context of this increased prevalence of dementia. One major modifiable risk factor is diabetes mellitus, which is an attractive target for the development of such interventions. At the 2017 International Conference of Alzheimer’s

Results

Discussion

Conclusion