Inverse Relationship between Baseline Serum Albumin Levels and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Elderly: A Seven-Year Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the prophase of dementia. MCI patients have a high risk of developing dementia. Relatively low serum albumin levels are associated with the development of several geriatric diseases, including stroke and poor cognitive performance. However, the potential relationship between serum albumin levels and MCI risk has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we explored this relationship to increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of MCI, the finding of which may provide new ideas for the controlling of dementia. A total of 1,800 subjects who had normal cognitive function at their first health examinations (seven years ago) were retrospectively analyzed from a health database in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. They were over 60 years old at baseline, and the follow-up period was 7 years. At the time of data collection (seven years after), 196 subjects suffered from MCI, diagnosed by symptoms and Mini-Mental State Examination. The remaining 1,604 subjects were still cognitively normal. Multivariate COX regression analysis showed that relatively low serum albumin levels at baseline (< 40.5 g/L) were associated with the increased risk of MCI (HR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.67-2.82). Moreover, the effect of low serum albumin on the risk of MCI was further enhanced among the subjects with hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipemia, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, high serum levels of C-reactive protein, or relatively low levels of uric acid or total bilirubin. In conclusion, relatively low serum concentrations of albumin may be an independent risk factor for MCI in elderly.

Serum albumin, cardiometabolic and other adverse outcomes: systematic review and meta-analyses of 48 published observational cohort studies involving 1,492,237 participants

“…In total, we included 54 articles based on 48 unique observational cohort studies. [5,6,8,9,10,11,12,15,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,…”

“…Findings from single reports showed a decreased risk of heart failure, [49] hypertension, [56] breast cancer, [65] colorectal cancer death, [63] and colon cancer; [34] an increased risk of ovarian cancer [67] and no significant associations with all-cause cancer, [38] lung cancer, [65] and prostate cancer [65] (Supplementary Figure 8). In single studies that compared hypoalbuminaemia with normal albumin levels, the risk was increased for heart failure, [50] cancer, [61] and mild cognitive impairment [70] (Supplementary Figure 9).…”

Association between Cerebral Oxygenation, as Evaluated with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, and Cognitive Function in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

“…In fact, the association between cerebral rSO 2 and Hb levels has been proved to be positively linear in patients undergoing HD [33]. To date, renal anemia [34-36], hypoalbuminemia [37], and the presence of DM [6] were reported to be associated with the occurrence of cognitive impairment. However, in this study, there were no significant associations between MMSE score and clinical factors, including Hb, serum albumin, and the presence of DM.…”

Determinants Associated with Prolonged Hospital Stays for Patients Aged 65 Years or Older with a Vertebral Compression Fracture in a Rural Hospital in Japan

“…The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. A value of P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance (Wang et al 2018). All analyses were performed using SPSS 23.0 statistical software/Windows (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA)…”