Diagnostic Values of Advanced Glycation End Products and Homocysteine in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Sarcopenia

Abstract

This study is aimed at exploring the diagnostic value of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and homocysteine (Hcy) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) complicated with sarcopenia (SP) and to analyze the risk factors related to AD complicated with SP. A total of 168 patients admitted to our hospital from November 2019 to December 2021 were enrolled. Patients were divided into the NC (no SP and AD) group with 29 cases, the AD group with 39 cases, the AD+SP group with 35 cases, and the SP group with 65 cases. The general information, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and serum levels of AGEs and Hcy among the four groups were compared. Unordered logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of SP patients complicated with dementia. The AGE level was higher in the AD or AD+SP group than the NC or SP group ( $P<0.05$ ). There was no significant difference between the SP group and the NC group or between the AD group and the AD+SP group ( $P>0.05$ ). The Hcy level was higher in the SP or AD group than the NC group ( $P<0.05$ ). There were no significant differences between the AD group and NC group or between the SP group and AD+SP group ( $P>0.05$ ). The ROC curve of serum AGEs and Hcy for the diagnosis of AD showed that the area under curve (AUC) was 0.887, $P<0.05$ (95% CI: 0.821-0.954, sensitivity: 80.95%, specificity: 73.81%) and 0.7423, $P<0.05$ (95% CI: 0.6382-0.8465, sensitivity: 60.42%, specificity: 57.59%), respectively. The ROC curve of serum AGEs and Hcy for the diagnosis of SP showed that the AUC was 0.5533, $P>0.05$ (95% CI: 0.4294-0.6771) and 0.8744, $P<0.05$ (95% CI: 0.8006-0.9483). Age ( $P<0.001$ ), depression ( $P=0.001$ ), malnutrition ( $P=0.002$ ), and BMI ( $P<0.001$ ) were independent influencing factors of SP complicated with AD in elderly inpatients. In conclusion, combined serum AGEs and Hcy had a good diagnostic value for AD combined with SP, which may be helpful for early detection of patient condition.