Abstract
SummaryThe worldwide prevalence of dementia is estimated at 35.6 million and will rise to 115 million by 2050. There is therefore an urgent need for well-founded dementia diagnostics and well-researched therapeutic options. Previous studies have highlighted that spermidine has the ability to trigger the important process of dissolving amyloid-beta plaques by autophagy. They also confirmed that nutritional intervention with the natural polyamine spermidine can prevent memory loss in aging model organisms. This multicentric double-blind preliminary study focused on the effect of oral spermidine supplementation on older adults’ cognitive performance. Memory tests were carried out on 85 subjects aged between 60 and 96 years in 6 nursing homes in Styria. Blood samples were taken for the determination of spermidine concentration and measurement of metabolic parameters. The results demonstrated a clear correlation between the intake of spermidine and the improvement in cognitive performance in subjects with mild and moderate dementia in the group treated with the higher spermidine dosage. The most substantial improvement in test performance was found in the group of subjects with mild dementia with an increase of 2.23 points (p = 0.026) in the mini mental state examination (MMSE) and 1.99 (p = 0.47) in phonematic fluidity. By comparison, the group which had a lower spermidine intake showed consistent or declining cognitive performance.
Highlights
Age-associated disorders, in particular dementia, have become increasingly more prevalent in the media and politics in the last few years
The subjects were divided into the following 4 groups based on the results of the mini-mental test (MMSE): No dementia (MMSE >26) Mild dementia (MMSE = 21–26)
The results clearly show that oral spermidine intake significantly correlates with the improvement of cognitive performance and has a positive effect on it
Summary
Age-associated disorders, in particular dementia, have become increasingly more prevalent in the media and politics in the last few years. The numbers speak for themselves—according to the Austrian Dementia Report of 2014 the number of people in Austria who will be suffering from dementia in 2050 is estimated at 262,200. Compared to 90,500 people in 2000, this represents a threefold increase in neurocognitively impaired people in 50 years [1]. The worldwide prevalence is currently estimated at 35.6 million and will rise to 115 million by 2050 [2]. Much of the increase will take place in developing countries and 58% of people with dementia live in low and middle income countries, but by 2050 it will be 68%. In a recent study in which the effects of the psychotropic
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