Table 4.
Non-amino acid variables of the population of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) subdivided into malnourished patients (MNA Group 1), patients at risk of malnutrition (MNA Group 2), normonourished patients (MNA Group 3), and combined group (CG = MNA Group 1 + MNA Group 2).
| Variable | CG (N = 26) |
MNA Grp 1 (N = 8) |
MNA Grp 2 (N = 18) |
MNA Grp 3 (N = 28) |
p Value CG vs. Grp 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic variables | |||||
| Age (years) | 74.58 ± 9.01 | 75.38 ± 5.42 | 74.22 ± 10.33 | 74.32 ± 7.11 | 0.81 |
| Male gender (%) | 17 (65%) | 5 (62%) | 12 (67%) | 20 (71%) | 0.07 |
| Anthropometric variables | |||||
| Education (years) | 7.11 ± 4.08 | 8.33 ± 4.59 | 6.54 ± 3.89 | 7.41 ± 3.75 | 0.84 |
| Body weight (kg) | 59.15 ± 11.46 | 55.70 ± 13.42 | 60.68 ± 10.52 | 68.11 ± 12.83 | 0.006 |
| Height (cm) | 158.42 ± 10.82 | 162.00 ± 8.64 | 156.83 ± 11.52 | 163.14 ± 8.66 | 0.10 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 23.76 ± 5.00 | 21.58 ± 6.52 | 24.73 ± 4.00 | 25.60 ± 4.49 | 0.09 |
| Mid-arm circumference (cm) | 25.56 ± 3.24 | 23.44 ± 3.83 | 26.50 ± 2.53 | 26.43 ± 2.36 | 0.34 |
| Biohumoral variables | |||||
| Glucose (NV 70–115 mg/dL) | 85.50 ± 9.74 | 86.00 ± 5.93 | 85.28 ± 11.18 | 90.36 ± 14.56 | 0.36 |
| Insulin (NV 4–24 µU/mL) | 11.10 ± 4.37 | 9.89 ± 3.37 | 11.64 ± 4.73 | 13.52 ± 5.53 | 0.11 |
| HOMA-IR (NV < 2.4) | 3.41 ± 1.99 | 2.55 ± 1.07 | 3.79 ± 2.21 | 4.07 ± 1.89 | 0.15 |
| Glycosylated haemoglobin (4.8–5.9%) | 5.53 ± 0.51 | 5.58 ± 0.21 | 5.52 ± 0.60 | 5.61 ± 0.88 | 0.69 |
| Total cholesterol (NV < 200 mg/dL) | 188.77 ± 32.44 | 196.50 ± 36.26 | 185.33 ± 31.08 | 186.04 ± 32.87 | 0.96 |
| HDL cholesterol (NV: M > 55 mg/dL; F > 65 mg/dL) | 56.85 ± 17.72 | 52.88 ± 12.53 | 58.61 ± 19.66 | 53.68 ± 14.05 | 0.71 |
| LDL cholesterol (NV < 100 mg/dL) | 111.69 ± 25.28 | 123.25 ± 23.43 | 106.56 ± 24.96 | 110.25 ± 26.96 | 0.89 |
| Transferrin (NV 200–360 mg/dL) | 230.69 ± 33.89 | 220.25 ± 40.08 | 235.33 ± 30.88 | 229.07 ± 41.89 | 0.72 |
| Iron (NV 59–158 µg/dL) | 86.38 ± 29.37 | 91.13 ± 26.63 | 84.28 ± 31.01 | 83.43 ± 22.24 | 0.72 |
| Tryglycerides (NV 0–200 mg/dL) | 99.00 ± 34.58 | 100.13 ± 45.82 | 98.50 ± 29.89 | 105.36 ± 43.55 | 0.94 |
| Vitamin B12 (NV 191–663 pg/mL) | 331.96 ± 139.31 | 446.88 ± 150.31 | 277.88 ± 97.56 | 318.00 ± 162.25 | 0.47 |
| Folate (NV 3.1–17.5 ng/mL) | 6.47 ± 3.49 | 6.21 ± 3.66 | 6.59 ± 3.52 | 6.64 ± 2.93 | 0.49 |
| Creatinine (NV: M 0.73–1.18 mg/dL; F 0.55–1.02 mg/dL) | 0.90 ± 0.24 | 0.97 ± 0.33 | 0.86 ± 0.18 | 0.91 ± 0.21 | 0.66 |
| Total proteins (NV 6.6–8.7 g/dL) | 6.33 ± 0.49 | 6.29 ± 0.79 | 6.35 ± 0.30 | 6.27 ± 0.33 | 0.79 |
| Albumin (NV 3500–5200 mg/dL) | 3683.85 ± 360.31 | 3572.50 ± 560.91 | 3733.33 ± 230.09 | 3728.93 ± 284.84 | 0.54 |
| White blood cell count (NV 4.00–10.00 × 103/µL) | 6.59 ± 1.79 | 7.16 ± 2.12 | 6.32 ± 1.61 | 6.11 ± 1.21 | 0.60 |
| Red blood cell count (NV: M 4.30–5.70 × 106/µL; F 3.80–5.20 × 106/µL) | 4.20 ± 0.46 | 4.21 ± 0.41 | 4.19 ± 0.50 | 4.47 ± 0.44 | 0.025 |
| Haemoglobin (NV: M 13.2–17.3 g/dL; F 11.7–15.5 g/dL) | 12.81 ± 1.31 | 12.70 ± 0.95 | 12.86 ± 1.47 | 13.44 ± 1.18 | 0.035 |
| Erythrosedimentation rate (NV < 15 mm/1st h) | 23.28 ± 22.19 | 24.25 ± 24.67 | 22.82 ± 21.71 | 13.00 ± 12.16 | 0.07 |
| AD biomarkers in CSF | |||||
| tau (NV < 404 pg/mL) | 486.86 ± 609.36 | 231.60 ± 107.46 | 628.67 ± 730.94 | 444.14 ± 216.02 | 0.14 |
| p-tau (NV < 56.5 pg/mL) | 72.07 ± 44.15 | 45.60 ± 20.13 | 86.78 ± 47.78 | 79.20 ± 28.62 | 0.28 |
| β-amyloid (NV > 599 pg/mL) | 532.29 ± 471.59 | 343.60 ± 172.28 | 637.11 ± 558.52 | 566.95 ± 283.63 | 0.18 |
| β-amyloid/tau (NV > 1.6) | 2.46 ± 3.43 | 1.94 ± 1.35 | 2.74 ± 4.23 | 2.02 ± 2.31 | 0.96 |
| β-amyloid/p-tau (NV > 11.5) | 9.92 ± 10.33 | 9.52 ± 7.52 | 10.14 ± 12.04 | 8.33 ± 6.32 | 0.99 |
| Neurocognitive tests | |||||
| Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE < 24 denotes cognitive impairment) | 15.75 ± 7.30 | 17.17 ± 5.75 | 15.11 ± 8.07 | 19.14 ± 7.13 | 0.20 |
| Digit span (NV < 3.75) | 4.06 ± 0.77 | 4.92 ± 0.52 | 3.63 ± 0.41 | 3.78 ± 1.00 | 0.52 |
| Trail Making Test TMT-A (NV < 93″) | 162.00 ± 56.19 | 178.00 ± 33.94 | 155.60 ± 65.34 | 145.21 ± 55.31 | 0.65 |
| Trail Making Test TMT-B (NV < 282″) | 262.00 ± 136.96 | 347.00 ± 0.00 | 219.50 ± 163.34 | 162.33 ± 94.98 | 0.24 |
Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation except for gender, expressed as N (%). Reported p values are for between-group comparison (CG vs. MNA Group 3, Kruskal–Wallis test). Abbreviations: MNA, Mini Nutritional Assessment; NV, normal values; HOMA-IR, HOmeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid.