Cognitive Stimulation Modulates Platelet Total Phospholipases A2 Activity in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

We evaluated the effect of cognitive stimulation (CS) on platelet total phospholipases A2 activity (tPLA2A) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI_P). At baseline, tPLA2A negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination score (MMSE_s): patients with MMSE_s <26 (Subgroup 1) had significantly higher activity than those with MMSE_s ≥26 (Subgroup 2), who had values similar to the healthy elderly. Regarding CS effect, Subgroup 1 had a significant tPLA2A reduction, whereas Subgroup 2 did not significantly changes after training. Our results showed for the first time that tPLA2A correlates with the cognitive conditions of MCI_P, and that CS acts selectively on subjects with a dysregulated tPLA2A.

Keywords: Blood platelets; cognitive stimulation; mild cognitive impairment; phospholipases A2.

Fig.1

A). Platelet tPLA₂ activity at baseline in healthy elderly and MCI subjects, who showed a significantly higher value. B) Correlation between MMSE score and tPLA₂ activity in MCI patients at baseline. Note that when MMSE values are higher, enzymatic activity is lower. C) tPLA₂ activity of MCI patients at baseline falls into two groups on the bases of the MMSE score: subjects with MMSE score <26 (Subgroup 1) had enzymatic activity significantly higher than subjects with MMSE score ≥26 (Subgroup 2), whose values were comparable to those of healthy elderly (dotted line). D) Correlation between the MMSE score at baseline and tPLA₂ activity changes before and after the intervention (Δ), in the experimental group of MCI patients. Δ= tPLA₂ activity at FU- tPLA₂ activity at baseline. E) Effect of cognitive stimulation on tPLA₂ activity of MCI patients Subgroups 1 and 2. Only in Subgroup 1, the training induced a significant decrease.