Original research

Plasmatic level of neurosin predicts outcome of mild cognitive impairment

Manuel Menendez-Gonzalez¹ , Patricia Castro-Santos² , Maria Teresa Calatayud³ , Pablo Perez-Piñera⁵ , Renee Ribacoba¹ , Marta Martinez-Rivera¹ , Carmen Gutierrez^2,4 , Alfonso Lopez-Muñiz⁵ and Ana Suarez⁴

¹  Internal Medicine Department. Hospital Álvarez-Buylla, Mieres, Spain

²  Department of Immunology. Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain

³  Department of Neurology. Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain

⁴  Department of Functional Biology. Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

⁵  Department of Morphology and Cellular Biology. Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

author email corresponding author email

International Archives of Medicine 2008, 1:11doi:10.1186/1755-7682-1-11

Published:	11 July 2008

Abstract

Background

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a disorder considered to be a transitional stage from health to dementia. Diagnosis of dementias at these early stages is always troublesome because the pathophysiologic events leading to dementia precede clinical symptoms. Thus, the development of biomarkers that can be used to support the diagnosis of dementias at early stages is rapidly becoming a high priority. We have recently reported the value of measuring plasmatic levels of neurosin in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study is to determine whether measuring plasmatic concentration of neurosin is a valuable test to predict progression of MCI.

Methods

Plasmatic neurosin concentrations were measured in 68 MCI patients and 70 controls subjects. Blood samples were obtained at the beginning of the study. Sixty six patients diagnosed with MCI were observed for 18 months. In 36 patients a second blood sample was obtained at the endpoint.

Results

The mean value of plasmatic neurosin concentration differs significantly between MCI patients who converted to Dementia with vascular component, those who converted to AD, or those who remained at MCI stage. The relative risk of developing Dementia with vascular component when neurosin levels are higher than 5.25 ng/ml is 13 while the relative risk of developing mild AD when neurosin levels are lower than 5.25 ng/ml is 2. Increases in the levels of neurosin indicate progression to Dementia with vascular component.

Conclusion

The measurement of plasmatic neurosin level in patients diagnosed with MCI may predict conversion from MCI to Dementia with vascular component. A single measurement is also valuable to estimate the risk of developing AD and Dementia with vascular component. Finally, repeated measurement of plasmatic neurosin might be a useful test to predict outcome in patients with MCI.