Sex-specific relationship of cardiometabolic syndrome with lower cortical thickness. (10th September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Si Eun; Lee, Jin San; Woo, Sookyoung; Kim, Seonwoo; Kim, Hee Jin; Park, Seongbeom; Lee, Byung In; Park, Jinse; Kim, Yeshin; Jang, Hyemin; Kim, Seung Joo; Cho, Soo Hyun; Lee, Byungju; Lockhart, Samuel N.; Na, Duk L.; Seo, Sang Won
• Is Part Of: Neurology. Volume 93:Number 11(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09-10
• Subjects: Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000008084
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-3878

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To investigate whether cardiometabolic factors were associated with age-related differences in cortical thickness in relation to sex. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 1, 322 cognitively normal elderly (≥65 years old) individuals (774 [58.5%] men, 548 [41.5%] women). We measured cortical thickness using a surface-based analysis. We analyzed the associations of cardiometabolic risk factors with cortical thickness using multivariate linear regression models after adjusting for possible confounders and interactions with age. Result: Among women, hypertension (β = −1.119 to −0.024, p < 0.05) and diabetes mellitus (β = −0.920, p = 0.03) were independently associated with lower mean cortical thickness. In addition, there was an interaction effect between obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥27.5 kg/m 2 ) and age on cortical thickness in women (β = −0.324 to −0.010, p < 0.05), suggesting that age-related differences in cortical thickness were more prominent in obese women compared to women with normal weight. Moreover, low education level (<6 years) was correlated with lower mean cortical thickness (β = −0.053 to −0.046, p < 0.05). Conversely, among men, only being underweight (BMI ⩽18.5 kg/m 2, β = −2.656 to −0.073, p < 0.05) was associated with lower cortical thickness. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cortical thickness is more vulnerable to cardiometabolic risk factors in women than in men. Therefore, sex-specific prevention strategies may be needed to protect against accelerated brain aging.