Neurology-related protein biomarkers are associated with general fluid cognitive ability and brain volume in older age
Year: 2019
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Identifying the biological correlates of late life cognitive function is important if we are to ascertain biomarkers for, and develop treatments to help reduce, age-related cognitive decline. This study investigated the associations between plasma levels of 91 neurology-related proteins (Olink ® Proteomics) and general fluid cognitive ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936, N=798), the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (LBC1921, N=165), and the INTERVAL BioResource, (N=4,451). In LBC1936, we also examined mediation of protein-cognitive ability associations by MRI-derived indices of brain structure. In the LBC1936, 22 of the proteins and the first principal component (PC) created from a PC analysis of the 91 proteins, were associated with general fluid cognitive ability (β between −0.11 and −0.17, p<0.0029). Total brain volume partially mediated the association between 10 of these proteins and general fluid cognitive ability. Effect sizes for the 22 proteins, although smaller, were all in the same direction as in LBC1936 in an age-matched subsample of INTERVAL. Similar effect sizes were found for the majority of these 22 proteins in the older LBC1921. The associations were not replicated in a younger subset of INTERVAL. In conclusion, we identified plasma levels of a number of neurology-related proteins that were associated with general fluid cognitive ability in later life, some of which were mediated by brain volume.
DOI: 10.1101/692459
Authors: Sarah E. Harris, Simon R. Cox, Steven Bell, Riccardo E. Marioni, Bram P Prins, Alison Pattie, Janie Corley, Susana Muñoz Maniega, Maria Valdés Hernández, Zoe Morris, Sally John, Paola G. Bronson, Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, John M. Starr, Mark E. Bastin, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Adam S Butterworth, Ian J. Deary
Institutions: University of Edinburgh, University of Cambridge, British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Medical Research Council, Western General Hospital, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, UK Dementia Research Institute, Biogen (United States), The University of Texas at Austin, Alzheimer Scotland
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Biogen, NHS Blood and Transplant, Scottish Government, Mrs Gladys Row Fogo Charitable Trust, National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Society, Age UK, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, Cambridge University Hospitals, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, National Institutes of Health, Directorate for Biological Sciences, NIHR BioResource, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute on Aging
Awards: G1184531726, G1255019943, Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, G1441725439, G1671907826, G1953244154, G1982728927, Brain imaging and cognitive ageing in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: III, G2035013072, G2064318019, G2171394596, G2266788633, G2277832307, G2352317866, Large-scale integrative genomic studies of high-dimensional traits in cardiovascular diseases (renewal), G2804450655, G3217060148, G3561803360, G3868569194, G3933842093, G3986547339, G3996179666, G4194769985, G4211044638, Brain imaging and cognitive ageing in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: IV, G4584873075, G5067462658, G5117680084, G5490630913, G5492613641, G587296758, G5931154709, G6389927819, G6506225041, G666546157, G6671908157, G6730222009, G6787924332, G718988473, Evaluating Longitudinal Changes in the Human Structural Connectome in Relation to Cognitive Aging, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application (renewal). (Joint funding with MRC), G762219591, G7749460998, G7771854671, G7877448516, G7939076303, G829891318, G8346449347, G8733687393, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application
OpenAlex ID: W2955529039