Midlife C-reactive protein and risk of cognitive decline: A 31-year follow-up

Laurin, Danielle; David Curb, J.; Masaki, Kamal H.; White, Lon R.; Launer, Lenore J.

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.01.008

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 30, Issue 11 , Pages 1724-1727, November 2009

Midlife C-reactive protein and risk of cognitive decline: A 31-year follow-up

Danielle Laurin
- Laval University Geriatrics Research Unit, Centre de recherche du CHA, and Faculty of Pharmacy, Laval University, 1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy, Local L2-30, Quebec City, Quebec G1S 4L8, Canada
- Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, Gateway Building, Room 3C309, Bethesda, MD 20892-9205, USA
- Tel.: +1 418 682 7511x4832.
J. David Curb
- Pacific Health Research Institute, and Kuakini Medical Center, 846 South Hotel Street, Suite 301, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
- Tel.: +1 808 524 4411.
Kamal H. Masaki
- Pacific Health Research Institute, and Kuakini Medical Center, 846 South Hotel Street, Suite 301, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
- Tel.: +1 808 524 4411.
Lon R. White
- Pacific Health Research Institute, and Kuakini Medical Center, 846 South Hotel Street, Suite 301, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
- Tel.: +1 808 524 4411.
Lenore J. Launer
- Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, Gateway Building, Room 3C309, Bethesda, MD 20892-9205, USA
- Tel.: +1 301 496 6214.
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 301 496 6214; fax: +1 301 496 4006.

Received 22 June 2007; received in revised form 16 November 2007; accepted 23 January 2008. published online 04 March 2008.

Abstract

There is evidence for a relationship between raised inflammatory markers, including high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), measured late in life, and an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. This study evaluates the association of midlife hs-CRP concentrations with late-life longitudinal trends in cognitive function. Data are from the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS), a longitudinal community-based study of Japanese American men. hs-CRP levels were measured on average 25 years before cognitive testing began in 1991. Subjects were followed from up to three follow-up examinations (mean of 6.1 years). At each exam, cognitive function was measured with the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI). This analysis includes a sub-sample of 691 subjects dementia-free in 1991. With incident dementia cases included, those with the highest quartile of hs-CRP had significantly more cognitive decline than those in the lowest quartile, after adjustment for baseline CASI score, demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. When cases were removed, there was no difference in cognitive decline by CRP quartile. This relationship was not modified by the presence of apolipoprotein E ɛ4. These findings suggest that inflammatory mechanisms during midlife may reflect underlying processes contributing to dementia-related cognitive decline late in life.

Keywords: C-reactive protein, Cognition, Longitudinal studies