Non-linear association between serum spermidine and mild cognitive impairment: Results from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

Jiahui Xu; Zhaoqing Sun; Rui Zhang; Ruixue Li; Zhecong Yu; Qianlong Zhang; Yanan Ma; Fuguo Xing; Liqiang Zheng

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.924984

Non-linear association between serum spermidine and mild cognitive impairment: Results from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Aug 2:14:924984. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.924984. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jiahui Xu^{1

2}, Zhaoqing Sun², Rui Zhang³, Ruixue Li⁴, Zhecong Yu⁵, Qianlong Zhang⁶, Yanan Ma^{7

8}, Fuguo Xing⁹, Liqiang Zheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Cardiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
³ College of Public Health, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁴ School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁶ Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁸ Institute of Health Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁹ Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: Although animal studies show that spermidine (SPD) affects cognitive function, the relevant evidence among humans is limited. We aim to examine the association between serum SPD levels and cognitive performance.

Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study including a baseline and one follow-up survey. The baseline survey was conducted from June 2019 to August 2019, while the follow-up survey was conducted from June 2021 to August 2021. We analyzed 3,774 adult participants aged >35 years, who had no history of dementia.

Results: The mean (SD) age of the participants was 57.4 (9.8) years. Relative to the first tertile, the multivariate-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for the second and third tertile groups were 0.78 (0.65, 0.93) and 0.80 (0.67, 0.96), respectively. Restricted cubic spline models show that there is a non-linear association between SPD and MCI. In line with cross-sectional findings, the longitudinal study showed that a high SPD concentration may indicate a lower risk of MCI [ORs (95% CIs) for the third tertile of 0.62 (0.39, 0.99)].

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that SPD is favorable for cognitive function. Monitoring the SPD levels may help reduce the incidence of MCI, hence decreasing the burden of MCI.

Keywords: cognition; longitudinal study; mild cognitive impairment; rural; spermidine.