Ratios of bile acids reflective of liver and gut microbiome enzymatic activities in CN, Early MCI, Late MCI and AD patients.
Three types of ratios were calculated to inform about possible enzymatic activity changes in Alzheimer’s patients. These ratios reflect one of the following: (1) Shift in bile acid metabolism from primary to alternative pathway. (2) Changes in gut microbiome correlated with production of secondary bile acids. (3) Changes in glycine and taurine conjugation of secondary bile acids. Color code: Green: cognitively normal; Yellow: EMCI; Blue: LMCI; Red: AD. Composition of selected ratios stratified by clinical diagnosis. Error bars indicate standard error of the means; Asterisks indicate statistical significance (*P<10−03, ** P< 10−04, and ***P< 10−05). P-values were estimated from logistic regression models and adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and APOE ε4 status. The significance level was adjusted for multiple testing according to Bonferroni method to 0.05/138 = 3.62E-4; LCA was excluded in the quality control steps.