Association of midlife lipids with 20-year cognitive change: A cohort study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Melinda C. Power, George Washington University; Andreea Rawlings, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; A. Richey Sharrett, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Karen Bandeen-Roche, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Josef Coresh, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Christie Ballantyne, Baylor College of Medicine; Yashashwi Pokharel, Baylor College of Medicine; Erin D. Michos, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Alan Penman, University of Mississippi; Alvaro Alonso, Emory University; David Knopman, Mayo Clinic; Thomas H. Mosley, University of Mississippi; Rebecca F. Gottesman, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-02-01
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 the Alzheimer's Association
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2017.07.757
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Alzheimer's and Dementia
• ISSN: 1552-5260
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 167
• End Page: 177
• Grant/Funding Information: C Power was supported by the National Institute of Aging (T32 AG027668).; The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contracts (HHSN268201100005C, HHSN268201100006C, HHSN268201100007C, HHSN268201100008C, HHSN268201100009C, HHSN268201100010C, HHSN268201100011C, and HHSN268201100012C).; Neurocognitive data is collected by U01 HL096812, HL096814, HL096899, HL096902, HL096917 with previous brain MRI examinations funded by R01-HL70825.
• Keywords: ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE; IMPROVED LIPOLYTIC EFFICIENCY; DENSITY-LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL; Neurosciences & Neurology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Dementia; Science & Technology; PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY; Longitudinal; Epidemiology; Cognition; ATHEROSCLEROSIS RISK; Lipids; Cohort; CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS; Cholesterol; E EPSILON-4 ALLELE; Cognitive change; ENZYMATIC DETERMINATION; LATE-LIFE; SERUM TOTAL CHOLESTEROL; Cognitive decline; Clinical Neurology
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Psychology, Cognitive

Abstract

Introduction Existing studies predominantly consider the association of late-life lipid levels and subsequent cognitive change. However, midlife rather than late-life risk factors are often most relevant to cognitive health. Methods We quantified the association between measured serum lipids in midlife and subsequent 20-year change in performance on three cognitive tests in 13,997 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Results Elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were associated with greater 20-year decline on a test of executive function, sustained attention, and processing speed. Higher total cholesterol and triglycerides were also associated with greater 20-year decline in memory scores and a measure summarizing performance on all three tests. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was not associated with cognitive change. Results were materially unchanged in sensitivity analyses addressing informative missingness. Discussion Elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides in midlife were associated with greater 20-year cognitive decline.