Polygenic risk for coronary artery disease is associated with cognitive ability in older adults
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is associated with cognitive decrements and risk of later dementia, but it is not known if shared genetic factors underlie this association. We tested whether polygenic risk for CAD was associated with cognitive ability in community-dwelling cohorts of middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: Individuals from Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS, N = 9865) and from the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 (LBC1921, N = 517) and 1936 (LBC1936, N = 1005) provided cognitive data and genome-wide genotype data. Polygenic risk profile scores for CAD were calculated for all of the cohorts using the largest available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data set, the CARDIoGRAM consortium (22 233 cases and 64 762 controls). Polygenic risk profile scores for CAD were then tested for their association with cognitive abilities in the presence and absence of manifest cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: A meta-analysis of all three cohorts showed a negative association between CAD polygenic risk and fluid cognitive ability (β = -0.022, P = 0.016), verbal intelligence (β = -0.024, P = 0.011) and memory (β = -0.021, P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Increased polygenic risk for CAD is associated with lower cognitive ability in older adults. Common genetic variants may underlie some of the association between age-related cognitive decrements and the risk for CAD.
DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyv354
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,514
Funders: Wellcome Trust, Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council, Age UK, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Awards: G1184531726, Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, G2352317866, G2437620908, G259633682, G3933842093, Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL), G4641403149, G5067462658, Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL), G666546157, A genome-wide association study of non-pathological cognitive ageing, G718988473, G7304791810, G7771854671, G839044655, G8724570043, G8733687393, G9364917
OpenAlex ID: W2260111598