No abstract

Cognitive impairment is commonly found in the elderly population. Evidence suggests that mitochondrial function in lymphocytes are potential biomarkers in the progression of neurodegeneration, as peripheral mitochondrial function is associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the elderly population. Therefore, we hypothesize that impaired mitochondrial ATP production and oxidative stress in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are associated with cognitive impairment in the elderly population. Data were collected from 897 participants from the EGAT (The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) cohort. The participants were classified to be in the normal cognition group (n = 428) or mild cognitive impairment group (n = 469), according to their MoCA score. The association of mitochondrial function and cognitive status was analyzed by binary logistic regression analysis. MCI participants had higher age, systolic blood pressure, waist/hip ratio, and lower plasma high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, when compared to the normal cognition group. In addition, estimated glomerular filtration rate were lower in the MCI group than those in the normal cognition group. Collectively, MCI is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in PBMCs as indicated by decreasing mitochondrial ATP production, increasing proton leak, and oxidative stress, in the elderly population, independently of the possible confounding factors in this study.

Eubacterium bacteremia is rare. We report a senile patient who presented with 3 episodes of bacteremia, caused by Clostridium perfringens, Eubacterium limosum and Escherichia coli, respectively, which led to the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the colon. A differential diagnosis of colon cancer should be considered in patients with eubacterium bacteremia.

Objectives. This study compares glycoproteomes in Thai Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients with those of cognitively normal individuals. Methods. Study participants included outpatients with clinically diagnosed AD ( N = 136 ) and healthy controls without cognitive impairment ( N = 183 ). Blood samples were collected from all participants for biochemical analysis and for Apolipoprotein   E (APOE) genotyping by real-time TaqMan PCR assays. Comparative serum glycoproteomic profiling by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was then performed to identify differentially abundant proteins with functional relevance. Results. Statistical differences in age, educational level, and APOE ɛ3/ɛ4 and ɛ4/ɛ4 haplotype frequencies were found between the AD and control groups. The frequency of the APOE ɛ4 allele was significantly higher in the AD group than in the control group. In total, 871 glycoproteins were identified, including 266 and 259 unique proteins in control and AD groups, respectively. There were 49 and 297 upregulated and downregulated glycoproteins, respectively, in AD samples compared with the controls. Unique AD glycoproteins were associated with numerous pathways, including Alzheimer’s disease-presenilin pathway (16.6%), inflammation pathway mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling (9.2%), Wnt signaling pathway (8.2%), and apoptosis signaling pathway (6.7%). Conclusion. Functions and pathways associated with protein-protein interactions were identified in AD. Significant changes in these proteins can indicate the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AD, and they have the potential to serve as AD biomarkers. Such findings could allow us to better understand AD pathology.