Author(s)

Keith A. Bernardo¹, Heidi C. Rossetti¹, Myron F. Weiner¹, Colin Munro Cullum^1,2, James De Lemos³, Laura H. Lacritz^1,2

¹Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
²Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
³Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.

Cognitive decline in late adulthood might be partially mediated by subclinical generalized vascular disease. If so, atherogenic factors such as pro-inflammatory cytokines might be mid-life targets for prevention or treatment. Dallas Heart Study subjects (n = 997; mean age = 42.94 ± 10.2 yrs) underwent blood assays of pro-inflammatory biomarkers associated with atherosclerosis and 8 years later completed a cognitive outcome measure, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Markers included C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin-18 (IL-18), Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase (LP-PLA₂), and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein (MCP-1), with Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) as a potential modifier. We found weak evidence for LP-PLA₂ and CRP as predictors of cognitive scores. No relationship was found between elevated MCP-1, IL-18 and cognition. Presence of the ApoE4 allele did not impact the relationship between biomarkers and cognitive function. Levels of atherogenesis-related pro-inflammatory blood biomarkers did not predict cognitive function in middle-aged adults after an interval of 8 years.

Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Cognition, Inflammation, Dallas Heart Study

Bernardo, K. , Rossetti, H. , Weiner, M. , Cullum, C. , De Lemos, J. and Lacritz, L. (2016) Pro-Inflammatory Substances and Cognition in the Dallas Heart Study. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 6, 95-101. doi: 10.4236/ojpsych.2016.61011.