Proteomic Profiling of Serum Biomarkers Associated with Dementia in an Egyptian Cohort

TL;DR

This study identifies serum biomarkers for dementia in an Egyptian cohort, highlighting inflammatory and immune pathways involved in the disease.

Contribution

The study provides the first proteomic profiling of dementia in an Egyptian population, revealing population-specific biomarkers.

Findings

41 proteins were significantly differentially expressed between dementia patients and controls.

Dysregulated proteins were linked to inflammatory response, complement activation, and coagulation pathways.

Population-specific proteomic signatures were identified, emphasizing the importance of local studies.

Abstract

Dementia and aging problems are currently growing worldwide and are considered public health priorities. It is a complex neurodegenerative disorder influenced by multiple pathophysiological processes. Identifying specific biomarkers for the early detection of Dementia is crucial, particularly in underrepresented populations such as the Egyptian cohort.

As part of the development of a national dementia registry for Egypt that would be of great importance, the present study aims to perform proteomic profiling to identify serum biomarkers associated with Dementia in an Egyptian cohort, providing insights into disease mechanisms and potential diagnostic markers. We analyzed 30 serum samples including patients and controls, recruited by the Egyptian Dementia Registry (EDN). We assessed the differences in protein expression between patients and controls to identify the dysregulated biological pathways.

Our findings reported 222 unique proteins, 41 were significantly differentially expressed between Dementia patients and controls (p < 0.05). Some proteins were upregulated in patients such as Complement factor I and Antithrombin‐III and others were downregulated including Plasma protease C1 inhibitor and Lipopolysaccharide‐binding protein. Enrichment analysis linked these proteins to pathways implicated in inflammatory response, complement activation, coagulation, and fibrin clot formation.

In conclusion, this study provides the first proteomic characterization of an Egyptian Dementia cohort, identifying novel and established biomarkers associated with the disease. The results underscore the importance of inflammatory and immune pathways in disease pathogenesis and highlight population‐specific proteomic signatures.