Document Type : Original Article(s)

Authors

• Majid Barekatain ¹
• Faezeh Zahedian ²
• Hedyeh Askarpour ²
• Mohammad Reza Maracy ³
• Mohammad Hashemi-Jazi ⁴
• Mohammad Reza Aghaye-Ghazvini ⁵

¹ Associate Professor, Psychosomatic Research Center AND Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

² Resident, Department of Psychiatry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics AND Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

⁴ Associate Professor, Cardiac Rehabilitation Research Center, Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Cardiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

⁵ Isfahan Center of Health Research, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis and apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) are known risks for Dementia. We sought to evaluate the relationship between coronary atherosclerosis and APOE4 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: In a case-control study, subjects with age more than 60 years and recent coronary angiography were evaluated by mini-mental state examination and neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Assessment Tool (NUCOG) to find the patients with MCI (n = 40) and the controls with normal cognition (n = 40). Coronary angiography records were re-assessed to find the severity of coronary artery disease by the Gensini scores. Plasma levels of APOE4 were measured. RESULTS: There were no-significant difference between the 2 groups regarding the plasma APOE4 levels (P = 0.706) and the Gensini scores (P = 0.236). Associations between the Gensini scores and the NUCOG scores in the MCI group (r = −0.196, P = 0.225) and the control group (r = 0.189, P = 0.243) were not significant. However, the interaction effect between the Gensini and the NUCOG scores based on allocation to the control or the patient groups showed statistically significant difference (F(1,67) = 4.84, P = 0.031). CONCLUSION: Although atherosclerosis has been considered as known risk factor for dementia and MCI, this study could not reveal that coronary atherosclerosis-related to declining in cognitive functioning. There was no significant association between plasma APOE4 levels and MCI.   Keywords: Mild Cognitive Impairment, Coronary Artery, Angiography, Apolipoprotein E4