Photo Credit: K_E_N

A study examining the relationship between lipid profiles and cognitive performance in a large cohort of patients with MS suggest a mild negative impact of dyslipidemia on cognitive performance. The results, which were published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, included 211 patients with 316 available pairs of lipid and cognitive measures performed during follow-up. Baseline analyses revealed that higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was correlated with poorer scores on the Categorical Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). Higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was linked to lower SDMT and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test-3 (PASAT-3) scores. Repeated measures analysis confirmed these associations, showing LDL-C negatively impacted CVLT and BVMT-R scores, and HDL-C negatively affected PASAT-3 scores. The findings suggest dyslipidemia at least partially contributes to cognitive decline in patients with MS, independent of brain atrophy, and show that lipid abnormalities may contribute to cognitive decline in this patient population.