Associations between dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and cognitive function in 5, 061 older men and women in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. (July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Elpers, Anna-Lena; Steptoe, Andrew
• Is Part Of: Psychoneuroendocrinology. Volume 117(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Subjects: Hormones -- Cognition -- Ageing -- Gender differences -- Longitudinal studies; Psychoneuroendocrinology -- Periodicals; Endocrinology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Neuropsychoendocrinologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104702
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4530

Abstract

Highlights: Association between DHEAS and cognitive function assessed cross-sectionally and longitudinally in older men and women. Greater DHEAS concentration related cross-sectionally to better cognitive function in men after adjustment for covariates. No association among women, and no longitudinal relationship between DHEAS and cognition two or six years later in men. These results suggest that DHEAS is unlikely to play a functional role in cognitive decline. Abstract: Despite extensive observational and intervention research, the association between concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and cognition at older ages remains unclear. This study investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between plasma DHEAS and cognitive function in a large nationally-representative cohort of men and women aged 50 and older. Data were analysed from 5061 participants (mean age 65.1, standard deviation 8.61) who completed memory, verbal fluency and processing speed tests at baseline and two years later. Age, education, marital status, paid employment, depressive symptoms, mobility impairment, coronary heart disease and diabetes were included as covariates, and analyses were stratified by gender. We found positive associations at baseline between DHEAS concentration and aggregate cognition after adjustment for covariates in men (β = 0.049, standard error (s.e.) 0.020, p = 0.015). Longitudinally, DHEAS at baseline predicted cognition two years later in men (β = 0.052, s.e. 0.020, p = 0.010), but not after baseline cognition was taken into account (β = 0.022, s.e. 0.016, p = 0.17), indicating that DHEAS was not associated with rate of cognitive decline. Similar associations were recorded at 6 year follow-up. No significant relationships between DHEAS and cognition were observed among women. We conclude that greater DHEAS concentrations are associated with cognition level at older ages in men, but are unlikely to play a functional role in cognitive decline.