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Alzheimer's & Dementia

Blood markers may flag who benefits from a lifestyle program

A trial analysis in people with mild cognitive impairment identified a blood-marker subgroup with less cognitive decline after lifestyle intervention than in controls over 18 months.

Paper by Tetsuaki Kimura, Akinori Nakamura, Taiki Sugimoto, Show 7 more authorsJ-MINT study group
Figure 1. Classification of combined biomarkers.
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Figure 1. Classification of combined biomarkers.Classification of combined biomarkers.Kimura et al.
Randomized trial in 51 people with mild cognitive impairment, 18-monthInterventions

Genetic association study

Limit: The subgroup was identified and evaluated for intervention benefit within the same cohort

Paper
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Researchers analyzed blood markers in people with mild cognitive impairment—mild problems with memory or thinking—who participated in a lifestyle intervention trial. They grouped participants by patterns in markers related to Alzheimer’s disease. One subgroup had several abnormal markers and elevated glial fibrillary acidic protein, a protein found in cells that support nerve cells.

Within this subgroup, cognitive performance declined more in the control group than in the intervention group between the study’s start and 18 months. An analysis of participants’ genomes identified four genetic variants with suggestive links to membership in this subgroup. The researchers suggested that blood markers, potentially combined with genetic information, may help identify people with a more progressive Alzheimer’s-related biological profile who may benefit more from the intervention.

Why it matters

For people with mild cognitive impairment, a key question is whether Alzheimer’s-related biology can help guide efforts to delay cognitive decline.

Caveats

The findings came from a blood-marker-defined subgroup and do not establish that marker-guided intervention works. The abstract gives no subgroup sizes, effect sizes or information on harms.

From the paper

Participants

Of these, 51 dropped out before J-MINT follow-up assessments, leaving 269 patients.

Results, 3.1 Characteristics of J-MINT samples

Limitation

First, the sample size was modest, and analyses were conducted within a single cohort.

4 DISCUSSION

Quoted word for word from the full text on alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

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