Cognitive impairment in the U.S.: Lifetime risk, age at onset, and years impaired

Identification of hub genes associated with cognition in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease featured by cognitive impairment. This bioinformatic analysis was used to identify hub genes related to cognitive dysfunction in AD. The gene expression profile GSE48350 in the hippocampus of AD patients aged >70 years was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A total of 96 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and subjected to Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses; a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. The DEGs were enriched in synapse-related changes. A protein cluster was teased out of PPI. Furthermore, the cognition ranked the first among all the terms of biological process (BP). Next, 4 of 10 hub genes enriched in cognition were identified. The function of these genes was validated using APP/PS1 mice. Cognitive performance was validated by Morris Water Maze (MWM), and gene expression by RT-qPCR, Cholecystokinin (CCK), Tachykinin precursor 1 (TAC1), Calbindin 1 (CALB1) were downregulated in the hippocampus. These genes can provide new directions in the research of the molecular mechanism of AD.

Relationship Among Inflammation, Overweight Status, and Cognitive Impairment in a Community-Based Population of Chinese Adults

Purpose: To determine the association between overweight and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) with the odds of cognitive impairment as well as its subtypes based on the Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities Community (APAC) study in China.

Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the follow-up data of 2012 from the APAC study. The Chinese version of the MMSE was used as a cognitive screener, and an MMSE score <24 is generally accepted as indicating cognitive impairment. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the interactions of hs-CRP levels with body mass index (BMI) on the effects of cognitive impairment and its subtypes.

Results: Three thousand eight hundred seventy-five participants aged 40–90 years (median age 51.64 y) were enrolled in this study, and 1,788 (46.1%) were overweight. Before and after adjusting for confounders, such as age, sex, BMI, education, current smoking, drinking, physical activity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and hs-CRP, elevated hs-CRP levels were associated with cognitive impairment in normal-weight participants (crude OR: 2.08, 95%CI: 1.28–3.37, p = 0.003; adjusted OR: 2.06, 95%CI: 1.03–4.10, p = 0.04), but not in overweight participants. There was no statistically significant evidence for the interaction between hs-CRP and BMI on any cognitive sub-item.

Conclusion: Elevated hs-CRP levels increase the odds of cognitive impairment in normal-weight participants, but not in overweight participants.