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Sanborn V, Preis SR, Ang A, Devine S, Mez J, DeCarli C, Au R, Alosco ML, Gunstad J. Association Between Leptin, Cognition, and Structural Brain Measures Among "Early" Middle-Aged Adults: Results from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation Cohort. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 77:1279-1289. [PMID: 32831199 DOI: 10.3233/jad-191247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is growing interest in the pathophysiological processes of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD), including the potential role of leptin. Human studies have shown that both low and high levels of leptin can be associated with worse neurocognitive outcomes, suggesting this relationship may be moderated by another risk factor. OBJECTIVE We examined the association between plasma leptin levels and both neuropsychological test performance and structural neuroimaging and assessed whether body mass index (BMI) is an effect modifier of these associations. METHODS Our study sample consisted of 2,223 adults from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation Cohort (average age = 40 years, 53% women). RESULTS Among the entire sample, there was no association between leptin and any of the neuropsychological domain measures or any of the MRI brain volume measures, after adjustment for BMI, APOE4, and other clinical factors. However, we did observe that BMI category was an effect modifier for the association between leptin and verbal memory (p for interaction = 0.03), where higher levels of leptin were associated with better performance among normal weight participants (BMI 18.5-24.9) kg/m2 (beta = 0.12, p = 0.02). No association was observed between leptin level and verbal memory test performance among participants who were overweight or obese. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that the association between leptin and cognitive function is moderated by BMI category. Prospective examination of individuals transitioning from middle age to older adulthood will help to clarify the contribution of leptin to AD and other neurodegenerative conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Sanborn
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
| | - Sarah R Preis
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alvin Ang
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sherral Devine
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jesse Mez
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Charles DeCarli
- Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Rhoda Au
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael L Alosco
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John Gunstad
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
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Yuan S, Li H, Xie J, Sun X. Quantitative Trait Module-Based Genetic Analysis of Alzheimer's Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E5912. [PMID: 31775305 PMCID: PMC6928939 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20235912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 11/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The pathological features of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) first appear in the medial temporal lobe and then in other brain structures with the development of the disease. In this work, we investigated the association between genetic loci and subcortical structure volumes of AD on 393 samples in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. Brain subcortical structures were clustered into modules using Pearson's correlation coefficient of volumes across all samples. Module volumes were used as quantitative traits to identify not only the main effect loci but also the interactive effect loci for each module. Thirty-five subcortical structures were clustered into five modules, each corresponding to a particular brain structure/area, including the limbic system (module I), the corpus callosum (module II), thalamus-cerebellum-brainstem-pallidum (module III), the basal ganglia neostriatum (module IV), and the ventricular system (module V). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment results indicate that the gene annotations of the five modules were distinct, with few overlaps between different modules. We identified several main effect loci and interactive effect loci for each module. All these loci are related to the function of module structures and basic biological processes such as material transport and signal transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Xiao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; (S.Y.)
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