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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
Circulating metabolites and general cognitive ability and dementia: Evidence from 11 cohort studies
Sven J van der Lee1, Charlotte E Teunissen2, René Pool3
1Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Introduction:
Identifying circulating metabolites that are associated with cognition and dementia may improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of dementia and provide crucial readouts for preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Methods:
We studied 299 metabolites in relation to cognition (general cognitive ability) in two discovery cohorts (N total = 5658). Metabolites significantly associated with cognition after adjusting for multiple testing were replicated in four independent cohorts (N total = 6652), and the associations with dementia and Alzheimer's disease (N = 25,872) and lifestyle factors (N = 5168) were examined.
Results:
We discovered and replicated 15 metabolites associated with cognition including subfractions of high-density lipoprotein, docosahexaenoic acid, ornithine, glutamine, and glycoprotein acetyls. These associations were independent of classical risk factors including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes. Six of the cognition-associated metabolites were related to the risk of dementia and lifestyle factors.
Discussion:
Circulating metabolites were consistently associated with cognition, dementia, and lifestyle factors, opening new avenues for prevention of cognitive decline and dementia.
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