Role of Inflammatory Markers in Elderly Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. The etiology of cognitive impairment in people with T2DM is uncertain but, chronic hyperglycemia, cerebral micro vascular disease, severe hypoglycemia, and increased prevalence of macro vascular disease are implicated. Objectives: To determine the serum levels of soluble vascular adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1) and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in elderly type 2 diabetics with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Our study was conducted on 90 elderly subjects (aged 60 years old or more). They were divided into Group I, 30 patients with T2DM and mild cognitive impairment, group II, 30 patients with T2DM without cognitive impairment and group III, 30 healthy subjects as a control group. They were subjected to history taking, full clinical examination, anthropometric measurement, the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE---III 2012), Fasting plasma glucose, 2 hours plasma glucose, HbAlc, lipid profile, protein/creatinine ratio, serum sVCAM-1 and hs-CRP. Results: Serum levels of sVCAM-1 in diabetic elderly patients with MCI were significantly higher (946.7 +/- 162.01 ng/ml) than diabetic elderly patients without cognitive impairment (479.06 +/- 65.27 ng/ml) and control (263.7 +/- 72.05 ng/ml) with (P=0.002). Serum levels of Hs-CRP in diabetic elderly patients with MCI were significantly higher than as diabetic elderly patients without cognitive impairment and control with (P=0.005). Conclusion: Elderly diabetic patients with mild cognitive impairment have higher levels of soluble adhesion molecules and markers of low-grade systemic inflammation than other groups.