Tohoku University clarifies association of blood metabolites with cognitive function: Amino acids linked with maintenance, ketone bodies with decline

A research group led by Professors Seizo Koshiba and Atsushi Hozawa of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo) and Assistant Professor Sakura Kiuchi of the Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences at Tohoku University has clarified the correlation between blood metabolite patterns and cognitive function in about 3,000 elderly people. Although reported in previous studies in Europe, the US and elsewhere, this is the first study undertaken on an Asian cohort numbering in the thousands. Studies following their findings have the potential to prove that metabolite data at a certain point in time can be used as biomarkers to predict changes in cognitive function. The work was published in the Journal of Epidemiology.

The metabolomic analysis was performed using blood samples from elderly people aged 60 years or older living in Miyagi prefecture from a cohort survey of local residents conducted by the ToMMo from 2013 to 2016. Patterns were identified using an analytical method to summarize the characteristics of the data for metabolites using 43 metabolites as explanatory variables. The dependent variable was the presence or absence of cognitive decline (23 points or less) as assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination. Of 2,940 participants (49% were male; mean age was 67.6 years), 1.9% had cognitive decline.

Multivariate analysis revealed that the group with a relative predominance of a pattern containing essential amino acids such as leucine and isoleucine or a pattern containing non-essential amino acids such as glutamine and serine had a lower percentage of those with cognitive decline. Conversely, the group with a relative predominance of a pattern containing ketone bodies such as acetone had a higher percentage of those with cognitive decline. It is not clear whether the observed metabolite characteristics represent a cause or a consequence of cognitive decline, but if they represent a cause, maintaining essential amino acids through a balanced diet or other means may be effective in maintaining cognitive function. Moving forward, the research group will conduct a long-term follow-up study.

Journal Information
Publication: Journal of Epidemiology
Title: A principal component analysis of metabolome and cognitive decline among Japanese older adults: cross-sectional analysis using Tohoku Medical Megabank Cohort Study
DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20240099