Blood levels of cardiac troponin I in the elderly women with and without dementia

Objectives: We hypothesized that cardiac biomarker levels could be elevated in patients with dementia due to high frequency of cardiovascular risk factors in older patients with vascular and neurodegenerative type of this disease. The aim was to determine possible association between cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) blood levels and dementia. Methods: The cross-sectional study included 88 patients, female gender, and mean age 81 years, who were recruited from specialized unit of the Health Care Hospice for persons with disabilities in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the Hachinski ischemic score, 59 patients with dementia were classified in two groups- vascular (VD) and neurodegenerative dementia (ND), while 29, age-matched asymptomatic persons, were used as a control group(CG). The cTnI was measured using ELISA kit Humani Tn-I/TNNI3 (Elabscience Biotechnology Co., Ltd), using immunoanalayzer STAT FAX 2100, USA. Results: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)score was significantly lower in dementia patients than in control group (p<0.01). No significant difference in cardiac TnI levels was found in Alzheimer’s (AD), vascular dementia (VD)  and control group (AD: Me = 3.41, VD: Me = 3.49, control group: Me=3.57; (p=0.737). Conclusion: The participants’age and comorbidities are probable factors causing no association between dementia and cTnI. It is known that troponins are associated with risk of dementia but cTnI levels are as well under influences of a possible epigenetic modification of cTnI that should be the objects of the future investigation.