Fig. 2

Observational analysis of ketone bodies 3-β-hydroxybutyrate (BOHBUT) and acetoacetate (ACACE) in relation to cognitive function. A Associations between observational BOHBUT and cognitive functions. B Associations between observational ACACE and cognitive functions. Ketone bodies (KBs) were categorized into two groups, e.g., high vs normal levels, based on the assumption that KBs could have a therapeutic benefit when the concentrations reach a certain level. The categorical cutoffs across the range of KBs were varied due to their unknown value. The full model was adjusted by age, sex, diabetes (yes/no), smoking (ever/never), alcohol consumption (heavy/other), waist-to-hip ratio, and occupational position (low/intermediate/high) across the cutoff values of BOHBUT from 0.07 to 0.52 mmol/L and ACACE from 0.02 to 0.20 mmol/L