A study on the relationship between cognitive impairment and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in old population / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the correlation of cognitive function with iron load, atherosclerosis, hippocampal tissue structure, and neuron metabolism in elderly patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).Methods:A total of 100 elderly inpatients with NAFLD were enrolled. According to the mild cognitive impairment(MCI)diagnostic criteria, patients were divided into MCI group and Non-MCI group. The data of medical history and biochemical indexes were collected. Proton MR spectroscopy( 1H-MRS)was performed in the hippocampus of the patients. The total genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of 48 patients, and DNA sequencing was used to detect the 2616C/T polymorphism of the iron regulatory protein-2 gene(IRP2). T test, ANOVA, χ2 test, and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the data of two groups. Results:Compared with Non-MCI group, MCI group were with older age, lower levels of hemoglobin and soluble transferrin receptor(sTfR), higher hypersensitive C-reactive protein, reduced ankle-brachial index, increased carotid intima-media thickness and choline/creatine in right hippocampal head, and higher proportion of carotid plaque( P<0.05 or P<0.01). sTfR was associated with cognitive impairment in elderly patients with NAFLD( P<0.01). T allele genotype and T allele frequencies in MCI group were higher than those in Non-MCI group( P<0.05). Montreal cognitive assessment scale(MoCA) scores of C/T genotype and T/T genotype group were significantly lower than that of C/C genotype group( P<0.05). Conclusion:Iron metabolism abnormality may be a risk factor of cognitive impairment in elderly patients with NAFLD.