{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T01:50:36Z","timestamp":1788918636196,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,27]],"date-time":"2025-03-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743033600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including mainly ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn\u2019s disease (CD), have been associated with cognitive and psychological changes, though the mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: This prospective case-control study aimed to evaluate cognitive performance and biomarkers (homocysteine, serum amyloid A, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and S100B protein) in IBD patients. Results: A total of 90 individuals (34 UC, 21 CD, and 35 controls) were assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Memory Impairment Index (MIS), and biomarker analysis. MoCA and MIS testing showed significant differences between UC, CD, and the controls, with lower scores observed in IBD groups (p = 0.003, p = 0.015). Regarding trail-making tests, digit symbol substitution tests, and forward and backward digit spans, no significant changes were observed. No functional deficits were observed in daily activities. Biomarker analysis revealed lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor and higher serum amyloid A levels in IBD patients, correlated to MOCA and MIS scores. There were no significant differences in psychological distress between IBD patients and the controls. Subtle cognitive declines were noted across all groups during the 1-year follow-up, without any statistical significance when groups were compared. Conclusions: In conclusion, IBD patients reported lower cognitive scores compared to the controls, while no differences in depression and anxiety scores were observed. Higher BDNF levels correlated with better cognitive functioning, while higher serum amyloid A correlated with lower cognitive functioning.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14072293","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]],"date-time":"2025-03-28T03:35:28Z","timestamp":1743132928000},"page":"2293","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Brain-Gut Interplay: Cognitive Performance and Biomarker Correlations in IBD Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1115-9650","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oliviu-Floren\u021biu","family":"S\u00e2rb","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Medical Clinic, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0659-8926","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Iacobescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Personalized Medicine and Rare Diseases Department MEDFUTURE-Institute for Biomedical Research, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0080-9972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea-Maria","family":"Soporan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Personalized Medicine and Rare Diseases Department MEDFUTURE-Institute for Biomedical Research, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Pharmaceutical Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ximena-Maria","family":"Mure\u0219an","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Personalized Medicine and Rare Diseases Department MEDFUTURE-Institute for Biomedical Research, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adriana-Daniela","family":"S\u00e2rb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Heart Institute, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400001 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raluca","family":"St\u0103nciulescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Octavian Fodor Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 400158 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corneliu-Daniel","family":"Leucu\u021ba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5975-0779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alina-Ioana","family":"Tan\u021b\u0103u","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Medical Clinic, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"144","DOI":"10.1093\/ecco-jcc\/jjy113","article-title":"ECCO-ESGAR Guideline for Diagnostic Assessment in IBD part 1: Initial diagnosis, monitoring of known IBD, detection of complications","volume":"13","author":"Maaser","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. 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