Proteomics based identification of differential plasma proteins and changes in white matter integrity as markers in early detection of mild cognitive impaired subjects at high risk of Alzheimer's disease

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage of cognitive decline and dementia. The absence of specific diagnostic test for identification of MCI and AD. The current study aims to find proteomics based change in plasma proteins and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) based white matter changes in MCI for early detection of prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Fifty cases of mild cognitive impairment and age matched control between (55-75 yrs) were screened on basis of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Two dimensional gel electrophoresis and DTI imaging was performed in MCI and age matched control. The MMSE score of MCI were in the range of (28 ± 2-22.6 ± 1) as compared with healthy control (28 ± 2), DTI metrics apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional Anisotropy (FA) has shown significant changes in fornix, corpus callosum, hippocampus, right temporal and right frontal lobe, left frontal lobe, forcep major of MCI subjects as compared with controls. The protein expression of keratin type-2 was up regulated and albumin was down regulated in MCI subjects as compared with control. The data from present study signifies that expression of Keratin type-2 and albumin along with white matter changes provides early signatures for identification of MCI at high risk of Alzheimer's disease