The importance of Vitamin-D and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio for Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective: Ischemia and inflammation play a role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Plasma neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and 25- hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) were used as a biomarker for inflammation and atherosclerosis. The present study aimed to investigate a link between NLR, vitamin D and ischemia in AD.

Methods: The subjects with AD and control groups were enrolled to this retrospective study between 2017-2022 at Cukurova University Hospital. The cognitive assessment (MMSE), and blood tests (NLR, vitamin D) were collected from all subjects. In first part of the study, AD (n:132) and the control group (n:38) were compared. In second part of the study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used for evaluating ischemic lesions with scoring method of Fazekas. The control group (n:38) and AD subjects with mild ischemic lesions (Fazekas-1 and Fazekas-2) (n:64) were excluded. AD subjects with severe ischemic lesions (Fazekas-3) (n:34) and without ischemic lesions (Fazekas-0) (n:34) were compared again. SPSS 20.0 was used for all analyses. The threshold for statistical significance was set at 0.05.

Results: In the first part of the study, 132 AD patients (69 female and 63 male; mean age 70.83±9.35 (49-87) and age-matched 38 controls were compared. The mean NLR in AD [2.96±2.46 (1.17-19.43)] was higher than the control group [1.9±0.66 (0.9-3.56)] (p=0.005). In the second part of the study, the mean Vitamin D of Fazekas-3 AD group [16.15±9.64 (4.7-35)] was lower than Fazekas-0 AD group [16.27±6.81(4.6-29.7)] (p=0.024).

Conclusion: NLR was higher in AD while there was no difference between the Fazekas-0 and Fazekas-3 AD groups. Vitamin D was lower in the Fazekas-3 AD group. These data suggested that NLR increased independently of ischemia in AD. Also vitamin D deficiency could trigger ischemia in AD.