혈중 IL-6, TNF-α, IGF-1과 영역별 인지기능 저하와의 연관성 = The Association of Blood IL-6, TNF-α, and IGF-1 With Domains of Cognitive Impairment

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Objective: Neuroinflammation is suggested to play an important role in the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between blood levels of biomarkers and cognitive impairment.
Methods: We measured the blood levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in a sample of community-residing elderly Koreans (n=37). To evaluate cognitive function, we used the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We analyzed the association between biomarker levels and the total score, as well as the scores for each domain of the MMSE.
Results: We excluded the scores in the three-word registration and naming domains of the MMSE from the analysis, because all participants received perfect scores. The results of simple regression analysis revealed that there is a statistically significant association between higher levels of IL-6 and decreased scores in the repetition domain of the MMSE. However, we found no significant association between TNF-α and IGF-1 levels and the scores of cognitive function tests.
Conclusion: Our results indicate a potential role of inflammatory cytokines in certain cognitive functions, which requires further exploration.