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von Werdt L, Binz TM, O’Gorman RT, Schmid A, Naef N, Rousson V, Kretschmar O, Liamlahi R, Latal B, Ehrler M. Stress Markers, Executive Functioning, and Resilience Among Early Adolescents With Complex Congenital Heart Disease. JAMA Netw Open 2024; 7:e2355373. [PMID: 38334997 PMCID: PMC10858402 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.55373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Importance Infants with complex congenital heart disease (cCHD) may experience prolonged and severe stress when undergoing open heart surgery. However, little is known about long-term stress and its role in neurodevelopmental impairments in this population. Objective To investigate potential differences between early adolescents aged 10 to 15 years with cCHD and healthy controls in physiological stress markers by hair analysis, executive function (EF) performance, and resilience. Design, Setting, and Participants This single-center, population-based case-control study was conducted at the University Children's Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. Patients with different types of cCHD who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass surgery during the first year of life and who did not have a genetic disorder were included in a prospective cohort study between 2004 and 2012. A total of 178 patients were eligible for assessment at ages 10 to 15 years. A control group of healthy term-born individuals was cross-sectionally recruited. Data assessment was between 2019 and 2021. Statistical analysis was performed from January to April 2023. Exposure Patients with cCHD who underwent infant open heart surgery. Main Outcomes and Measures Physiological stress markers were quantified by summing cortisol and cortisone concentrations measured with liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in a 3-centimeter hair strand. EFs were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery to produce an age-adjusted EF summary score. Resilience was assessed with a standardized self-report questionnaire. Results The study included 100 patients with cCHD and 104 controls between 10 and 15 years of age (mean [SD] age, 13.3 [1.3] years); 110 (53.9%) were male and 94 (46.1%) were female. When adjusting for age, sex, and parental education, patients had significantly higher sums of hair cortisol and cortisone concentrations (β, 0.28 [95% CI, 0.12 to 0.43]; P < .001) and lower EF scores (β, -0.36 [95% CI, -0.49 to -0.23]; P < .001) than controls. There was no group difference in self-reported resilience (β, -0.04 [95% CI, -0.23 to 0.12]; P = .63). A significant interaction effect between stress markers and EFs was found, indicating a stronger negative association in patients than controls (β, -0.65 [95% CI, -1.15 to -0.15]; P = .01). The contrast effects were not significant in patients (β, -0.21 [95% CI, -0.43 to -0.00]; P = .06) and controls (β, 0.09 [95% CI, -0.11 to 0.30]; P = .38). Conclusions and Relevance This case-control study provides evidence for altered physiological stress levels in adolescents with cCHD and an association with poorer EF. These results suggest that future studies are needed to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms and timing of alterations in the stress system and its role in neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lilian von Werdt
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Tina M. Binz
- Center for Forensic Hair Analytics, Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ruth Tuura O’Gorman
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for MR Research, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Alenka Schmid
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Nadja Naef
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Valentin Rousson
- Division of Biostatistics, Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Oliver Kretschmar
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Heart Center, Department of Surgery, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Rabia Liamlahi
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bea Latal
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- University Research Priority Program (URPP), Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Ehrler
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Centre, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- University Research Priority Program (URPP), Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Switzerland
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Kalfas M, Ayling K, Jia R, Coupland C, Vedhara K, Chalder T. Fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic - prevalence and predictors: findings from a prospective cohort study. Stress 2024; 27:2352117. [PMID: 38757166 DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2024.2352117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns had a substantial impact on mental health. Distress and fatigue are highly correlated. However, little is known about the determinants of fatigue in the general population during the pandemic. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and predictors of fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK population. Online surveys were completed by a UK community cohort in April 2020 (wave 1), July-September 2020 (wave 2) and November-December 2020 (wave 3). In total, 3097 participants completed the wave 1 survey, and 1385 and 1087 participants (85.4% women) completed wave 2 and 3 surveys respectively. Fatigue was assessed using the Chalder Fatigue Scale at waves 2 and 3. Hair samples were provided by 827 participants (90.6% women) at wave 1 and wave 2, which were analyzed to indicate HairE (stress hormone). The mean total fatigue score during wave 2 was 14.7 (SD = 4.7), significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels observed in the community (mean difference 0.50, p = .003). At wave 2, 614 (44.3%) participants met the case definition for fatigue, only 15.6% of whom indicated that fatigue lasted for more than 6 months (suggesting it had started prior to the pandemic). Predictors of fatigue at wave 3 included being in a risk group, depression and belief in having COVID-19, which explained 23.8% of the variability in fatigue scores. Depression at wave 1 was the only significant predictor of remaining a fatigue case at wave 3. Fatigue was highly prevalent in the UK community during the COVID-19 pandemic and limited people's daily function. Depression and sociodemographic variables were significant predictors of fatigue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michail Kalfas
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Kieran Ayling
- Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Ru Jia
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Medical Science Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Carol Coupland
- Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Trudie Chalder
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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Occurrence and Estimated Daily Intake of Cortisone and Cortisol in Aquatic Food from China TDS. Foods 2022; 11:foods11213481. [PMID: 36360093 PMCID: PMC9654084 DOI: 10.3390/foods11213481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (GCs) widely exist in animal food including aquatic food. This study aimed to survey the occurrences of cortisone and cortisol in aquatic food and the estimated daily intake (EDI) of cortisone and cortisol due to different habits of aquatic food consumption. The mean levels of cortisone and cortisol in freshwater fish purchased from market were 14.59 μg/kg and 69.15 μg/kg, respectively, which were markedly higher than the levels in marine fish. A test using Zebrafish was performed to compare the concentration of GCs by different killing methods. The results suggested that physically traumatic killing methods are one of the reasons why the levels of GCs in freshwater fish were higher than those in marine fish. The concentrations of cortisone and cortisol in composite aquatic food samples from 12 provincial districts of the fourth China Total Diet Study (TDS) were 0.72~15.75 μg/kg and 4.90~66.13 μg/kg, respectively, which were positively correlated with the distance from the coastline. Further, the correlation coefficient between the levels of cortisone and cortisol in aquatic food and the percentages of freshwater fish consumption were 0.758 (p < 0.01) and 0.908 (p < 0.01), respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the levels of cortisone and cortisol in aquatic food in the fourth TDS and the percentages of freshwater fish consumption. The calculated average EDIs of cortisone and cortisol from aquatic food in the fourth TDS were 0.16 μg/d and 0.72 μg/d, respectively.
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Zhang Y, Huang B, Yang W, Zhong S, Lai S, Zhao H, He J, Cai S, Lv S, Wang C, Jia Y. Correlations Between Endocrine Hormones and Cognitive Function in Patients with Obesity: a Cross-sectional Study. Obes Surg 2022; 32:2299-2308. [PMID: 35486288 DOI: 10.1007/s11695-022-06076-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Obesity not only affects physical and mental conditions, but also influences cognitive function. Endocrine hormones may influence the risk of obesity and severe obesity. Our study investigated the influences of changes in levels of endocrine hormones on cognitive function in patients with obesity and severe obesity. METHODS We used the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to evaluate cognitive function in the groups of healthy control (HC), obesity (OB), and severe obesity (SOB). We detected the levels of endocrine hormones and cortisol at 8:00 am in the three groups. We statistically analyzed differences in cognitive function and levels of endocrine hormones among the three groups, and performed linear correlation analysis of cortisol level and cognitive function. Using mediation analysis, we assessed the influences of body mass index (BMI) on endocrine levels and cognitive function. RESULTS Our findings revealed that OB and SOB groups exhibited a lower level of cortisol than HC group. Among the three groups, we found significant differences in verbal learning (F = 4.433, P = 0.014), social cognition (F = 4.778, P = 0.010), and total cognition (F = 2.989, P = 0.008). After post hoc Bonferroni correction, we noted that SOB group had worse scores in the above-mentioned three areas than OB and HC groups. Moreover, except for working memory and visual cognition, we identified that the degree of cognitive impairment in SOB group was more severe than that in OB group. In our study, mediation analysis showed a mediating effect of BMI on cortisol level and verbal learning. We also found correlations between cortisol level and attention/alertness (r = 0.277, P = 0.003), between cortisol level and verbal learning (r = 0.205, P = 0.030), and between BMI and verbal learning (r = - 0.192, P = 0.043). CONCLUSION In our study, patients in both OB and SOB groups experienced a widespread cognitive impairment. We also found that patients with severe obesity had more severe cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment could be mediated by abnormal cortisol metabolism, and BMI could be a mediating factor in regulation of cortisol level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiliang Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Biao Huang
- Department of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.,Joint Institute of Metabolic Medicine Between State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong and Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wah Yang
- Department of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.,Joint Institute of Metabolic Medicine Between State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong and Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuming Zhong
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Shunkai Lai
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Hui Zhao
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiali He
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Shujing Cai
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Sihui Lv
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Cunchuan Wang
- Department of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. .,Joint Institute of Metabolic Medicine Between State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong and Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Yanbin Jia
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, No. 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
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Zhang Q, Li X, Qiao S, Liu S, Zhou Y, Shen Z. The relationship of hair glucocorticoid levels to immunological and virological outcomes in a large cohort of combination antiretroviral therapy treated people living with HIV. BMC Infect Dis 2022; 22:268. [PMID: 35307019 PMCID: PMC8935838 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07257-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Existing literature mostly investigated the relationship of acute or short-term glucocorticoid exposure to HIV disease progression using cortisol levels in serum, saliva, or urine. Data are limited on the relationship of long-term glucocorticoid exposure to HIV disease progression. This study examined whether hair glucocorticoid levels, novel retrospective indicators of long-term glucocorticoid exposure, are associated with two common indicators of HIV disease progression (CD4 count and HIV viral load) among a large cohort of combination antiretroviral therapy treated Chinese people living with HIV (PLHIV). Methods A total of 1198 treated PLHIV provided hair samples for glucocorticoid (cortisol and cortisone) assay and completed a survey assessing sociodemographic, lifestyle, and HIV-related characteristics. Meanwhile, CD4 count and HIV viral load were retrieved from their medical records. Spearman correlation was used to examine the associations of hair cortisol and cortisone levels to continuous CD4 count and HIV viral load. Multivariate logistic regression was used to predict CD4 count < 500 cells/mm3. Results Both hair cortisol and cortisone levels were negatively associated with CD4 count but not with HIV viral load. The odds ratio for CD4 count < 500 cells/mm3 was 1.41 [95% CI 0.99–2.00] and 2.15 [95% CI 1.51–3.05] for those with hair cortisol and cortisone levels in the highest quartile compared to the lowest when controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle, HIV-related covariates, and HIV viral load. Conclusion Hair glucocorticoid levels were associated with CD4 count but not viral load in treated Chinese PLHIV. Our data furtherly supported the hypothesis that elevated glucocorticoid levels are associated with the lower CD4 count.
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van den Heuvel LL, Suliman S, Bröcker E, Kilian S, Stalder T, Kirschbaum C, Seedat S. The association between hair cortisol levels, inflammation and cognitive functioning in females. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 136:105619. [PMID: 34896739 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids and inflammatory markers can influence cognitive function. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) reflect longer-term hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function and combined with immune markers can provide insights into how HPA-axis and immune pathways interact to influence cognition. We examined the association between HCC and high sensitivity c-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels, as well as the interaction between HCC and hsCRP, and cognitive function in a sample of 153 females, aged between 18 and 79 years, from a cross-sectional case-control study (SHARED ROOTS), conducted in Cape Town, South Africa from May 2014 until June 2017. We examined whether HCC and hsCRP levels were associated with performance on neurocognitive tests in both unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models. HCC demonstrated a significant inverse association with verbal working memory in both unadjusted (p = 0.010) and adjusted (p = 0.016) analyses. There were significant interactions between HCC and hsCRP on verbal intelligence (p = 0.016), language (p = 0.023) and executive function (p = 0.008) scores, such that at low HCC hsCRP levels were positively associated with language (p = 0.020) and executive function (p = 0.006) scores and at high HCC hsCRP levels were inversely associated with verbal intelligence (p = 0.034) scores. Though the results did not survive correction for multiple comparisons, they suggest stress-related neuroendocrine effects on working memory impairment. Furthermore, under physiological conditions and low long-term HCC, there may be positive effects of peripheral inflammatory markers on cognitive performance, whereas there may be detrimental effects when the HPA-axis is dysregulated as reflected by high long-term cortisol output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigh Luella van den Heuvel
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Sharain Suliman
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Erine Bröcker
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Sanja Kilian
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
| | - Tobias Stalder
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Obergraben 23, Siegen 57072, Germany.
| | - Clemens Kirschbaum
- Biological Psychology, TU Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, Dresden D-01062, Germany.
| | - Soraya Seedat
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; South African Research Chair in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
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Zhang Q, Li X, Qiao S, Liu S, Shen Z, Zhou Y. Greater Pain Severity is Associated with Higher Glucocorticoid Levels in Hair Among a Cohort of People Living with HIV. J Pain Res 2021; 14:645-652. [PMID: 33727858 PMCID: PMC7955773 DOI: 10.2147/jpr.s301651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pain is a common occurrence and persistent symptom, which has an adverse impact on individual well-being and quality of life among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Alteration in the activity of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis resulting in abnormal glucocorticoid levels had been proposed to play important roles in those associations. Purpose This study aimed to investigate whether pain severity was associated with hair glucocorticoid levels, a novel method of measuring long-term glucocorticoid exposure, among a large cohort of Chinese PLHIV. Methods A measure of pain severity and hair samples were collected from 431 adults PLHIV in Guangxi, China. Glucocorticoid (cortisol and cortisone) in hair were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The general linear model was used to test the associations of pain severity with hair glucocorticoid levels after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results Of the 431 PLHIV, 273 reported none pain, 87 reported mild pain, and 71 reported moderate-severe pain. Hair cortisone, but not hair cortisol, was found to differ significantly among the three pain severity groups (F=3.90, p=0.021). PLHIV reported moderate-severe pain had higher hair cortisone than those reported mild (p=0.070) or none pain (p=0.014), with no differences between the latter two pain severity groups. Conclusion Greater pain severity is associated with higher hair cortisone levels among Chinese PLHIV. In order to reduce the long-term glucocorticoid levels, interventions managing pain should be considered for PLHIV with moderate-severe pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Zhang
- South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality (CHQ), Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.,Institute of Pedagogy and Applied Psychology, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoming Li
- South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality (CHQ), Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Shan Qiao
- South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality (CHQ), Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Shuaifeng Liu
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhiyong Shen
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuejiao Zhou
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
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Resting EEG, Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older People with Different Perceived Socioeconomic Status. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10090635. [PMID: 32942524 PMCID: PMC7563281 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10090635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful aging depends upon several internal and external factors that influence the overall aging process. Objective and subjective socioeconomic status emerge as potential psychosocial factors in the ethiopathophysiology of aging-related disorders. Presumably, low socioeconomic status can act as a psychosocial stressor that can affect humans’ physiology via psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms, that may, in turn, affect the brain physiology. In resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), excess theta and delta activity has been related to cognitive decline and dementia. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) on cognition and brain electrical activity through EEG measures. The present research constitutes a cross-sectional study with thirty healthy older adults (61–82 years old) separated into two clusters: high socioeconomic (HS) and low socioeconomic (LS) status; they were evaluated and compared in cognitive terms using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). An EEG at rest was recorded to measure brain activity and, as an indicator of long-term stress exposure, hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) were measured. Our results show that lower SES is related to a worse performance in working memory tasks (p = 0.009), higher delta (p = 0.002) and theta power (p = 0.039), and lower alpha activity (p = 0.028). However, it seems that SES does not significantly affect HCC in this population of healthy older adults. The effects of SES on long-term cortisol exposure, brain electrical activity, and cognitive functions in healthy older people emphasize the role of psychosocial factors in aging from an integrative perspective that will allow us to implement better prevention programs to target cognitive decline in adults.
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Plasma concentrations of vitamin B 12 and folate and global cognitive function in an older population: cross-sectional findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Br J Nutr 2020; 124:602-610. [PMID: 32329423 DOI: 10.1017/s0007114520001427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The uncertainty surrounding high intakes of folic acid and associations with cognitive decline in older adults with low vitamin B12 status has been an obstacle to mandatory folic acid fortification for many years. We estimated the prevalence of combinations of low/normal/high vitamin B12 and folate status and compared associations with global cognitive function using two approaches, of individuals in a population-based study of those aged ≥50 years in the Republic of Ireland. Cross-sectional data from 3781 men and women from Wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing were analysed. Global cognitive function was assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Prevalence estimates for combinations of vitamin B12 (plasma vitamin B12 < or ≥258 pmol/l) and folate (plasma folate ≤ or >45·3 nmol/l) concentrations were generated. Negative binomial regression models were used to investigate the associations of vitamin B12 and folate status with global cognitive function. Of the participants, 1·5 % (n 51) had low vitamin B12 (<258 pmol/l) and high folate (>45·3 nmol/l) status. Global cognitive performance was not significantly reduced in these individuals when compared with those with normal status for both B-vitamins (n 2433). Those with normal vitamin B12/high folate status (7·6 %) had better cognitive performance (MMSE: incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0·82, 95 % CI 0·68, 0·99; P = 0·043, MoCA: IRR 0·89, 95 % CI 0·80, 0·99; P = 0·025). We demonstrated that high folate status was not associated with lower cognitive scores in older adults with low vitamin B12 status. These findings provide important safety information that could guide fortification policy recommendations in Europe.
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