Associations Between Inflammation and Cognitive Function in African Americans and European Americans. Issue 12 (December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Windham, B. Gwen; Simpson, Brittany N.; Lirette, Seth; Bridges, John; Bielak, Lawrence; Peyser, Patricia A.; Kullo, Iftikhar; Turner, Stephen; Griswold, Michael E.; Mosley, Thomas H.
• Is Part Of: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Volume 62:Issue 12(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 2303
• Page End: 2310
• Publication Date: 2014-12
• Subjects: Geriatrics -- Periodicals; 618.97
• DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13165
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-8614

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jgs13165-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objectives</title> <p>To examine associations between specific inflammatory biomarkers and cognitive function in African Americans (AAs) and European Americans (EAs) with prevalent vascular risk factors.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>Cross‐sectional analysis using generalized estimating equations to account for familial clustering; standardized β‐coefficients, adjusted for age, sex, and education are reported.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Setting</title> <p>Community cohort study in Jackson, Mississippi, and Rochester, Minnesota.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Participants</title> <p>Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy (GENOA)–Genetics of Microangiopathic Brain Injury (GMBI) Study participants.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Measurements</title> <p>Associations between inflammation (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)‐6, soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 1 and 2 (sTNFR1, sTNFR2)) and cognitive function (global, processing speed, language, memory, and executive function) were examined in AAs and EAs (N = 1, 965; aged 26–95, 64% women, 52% AA, 75% with hypertension).</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>In AAs, higher sTNFR2 was associated with poorer cognition in all domains (global: −0.11, <italic>P</italic> = .009; processing speed: −0.11, <italic>P</italic> < .001; language: −0.08, <italic>P</italic> = .002; memory: −0.09, <italic>P</italic> = .008; executive function: −0.07, <italic>P</italic> = .03); sTNFR1 was associated with slower processing speed (−0.08, <italic>P</italic> < .001) and poorer executive function (−0.08, <italic>P</italic> = .008); higher CRP was associated with slower processing speed (−0.04, <italic>P</italic> = .024), and higher IL6 was associated with poorer executive function (−0.07, <italic>P</italic> = .02). In EA, only higher sTNFR1 was associated with slower processing speed (−0.05, <italic>P</italic> = .007). Associations were not found between cognition and sTNFR2, CRP, or IL6 in EA.</p> </sec> <sec id="jgs13165-sec-0007" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>In a population with high vascular risk, adverse associations between inflammation and cognitive function were especially apparent in AAs, primarily involving markers of TNFα activity.</p> </sec> </abstract>