title: Association of interleukin-1β genetic polymorphisms with cognitive performance in elderly females without dementia.
abstract: Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is considered to have a role in age-related cognitive decline. A recent study has shown that a promoter polymorphism of the IL-1β gene (rs16944) is associated with cognitive performance in elderly males without dementia. In this study, we examined whether polymorphisms of the IL-1β gene also influence cognitive functions in elderly females. Cognitive functions were assessed by the Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised (WAIS-R) in 99 elderly (60 years) females without dementia. We selected five tagging polymorphisms from the IL-1β gene and examined the associations with the WAIS-R scores. Significant associations were found between verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) and the genotypes of rs1143634 and rs1143633 (P=0.0037 and P=0.010, respectively). No significant associations of rs16944 genotype were found with verbal or performance IQ. However, individuals homozygous for the G allele of rs16944 achieved higher scores in digit span compared with their counterpart, which is consistent with the previous findings in males. These results suggest that IL-1β gene variation may have a role in cognitive functions in aging females as well as males.
authors: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan. sasayama@shinshu-u.ac.jp
authors: Daimei
authors: D
authors: Sasayama
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Hori
authors: Toshiya
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authors: Teraishi
authors: Kotaro
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authors: Hattori
authors: Miho
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authors: Ota
authors: Junko
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authors: Matsuo
authors: Yumiko
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authors: Kawamoto
authors: Yukiko
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authors: Kinoshita
authors: Teruhiko
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authors: Higuchi
authors: Naoji
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authors: Amano
authors: Hiroshi
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authors: Kunugi