title: Statins and brain integrity in older adults: secondary analysis of the Health ABC study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined whether statins are associated with better cerebral white (WM) and gray matter (GM) indices in community-dwelling elders.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 295 older adults, we compared white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on brain magnetic resonance imaging and, total WM fractional anisotropy (FA) and GM mean diffusivity (MD) on diffusion tensor imaging, of Alzheimer's disease (AD) relevant regions in statin-exposed and statin-unexposed participants stratified by Modified Mini-Mental Status Examination (3MS) score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no overall effect of statin exposure on cerebral structural indices. The interaction between statin exposure and 3MS was significant for total-WMH and WM FA (both P < .05) but not GM MD. In the lowest 3MS tertile (mean: 86), statin-exposed individuals had lower total-WMH and higher WM FA (P = .005 and P = .044) and FA of tracts linked to clinical AD (P-value range= .005-.04) despite statistical adjustments. These differences were not significant in the two higher 3MS tertiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Statins may benefit WM in older adults vulnerable to dementia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology - Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: nkn3@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Neelesh K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Nadkarni
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology - Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Subashan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology - Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Epidemiology - Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hanlon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology - Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aizenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Marshall
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elam
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Tamara B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Sticht Center on Aging, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kritchevsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yaffe
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology - Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
keywords: Cognition; Fractional anisotropy; Mean diffusivity; Older adults; Statins; White matter hyperintensities