| Title: | Plasma IL-6 levels and their association with brain health and dementia risk: A population-based cohort study |
| Journal: | Brain Behavior and Immunity |
| Published: | 17 Jun 2024 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38897328/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2024.06.014 |
Publication 11844
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have associated immune abnormalities with dementia. IL-6 is a crucial cytokine in inflammatory responses, and recent evidence has linked elevated IL-6 levels to changes in brain structure and cognitive decline. However, the connection between IL-6 levels, cognition, brain volumes, and dementia risk requires exploration in large prospective cohorts.</p>
METHODS: This study utilized a longitudinal cohort from the UK Biobank to analyze the correlation between IL-6 expression levels, cognitive performance, and cortical and subcortical brain volumes through linear regression. Additionally, we assessed the association between IL-6 levels and long-term dementia risk using Cox regression analysis. We also used one-sample Mendelian randomization to analyze the impact of genetic predisposition of dementia on elevated IL-6 levels.</p>
RESULTS: A total of 50,864 participants were included in this study, with 1,391 new cases of all-cause dementia identified. Higher plasma IL-6 levels are associated with cortical and subcortical atrophy in regions such as the fusiform, thalamus proper, hippocampus, and larger ventricle volumes. IL-6 levels are negatively associated with cognitive performance in pair matching, numeric memory, prospective memory, and reaction time tests. Furthermore, elevated IL-6 levels are linked to a 23-35 % increased risk of all-cause dementia over an average follow-up period of 13.2 years. The one-sample Mendelian randomization analysis did not show associations between the genetic predisposition of dementia and elevated IL-6 levels.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: Increased IL-6 levels are associated with worse cognition, brain atrophy, and a heightened risk of all-cause dementia. Our study highlights the need to focus on the role of peripheral IL-6 levels in managing brain health and dementia risk.</p>
7 Authors
- Zhengyang Zhao
- Jiashuo Zhang
- Yulu Wu
- Min Xie
- Shiwan Tao
- Qiuyue Lv
- Qiang Wang
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 86920 | Evaluating rare and common genetic variants and interaction with environment affecting mental diseases |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health