title: Increased attrition of leukocyte telomere length in young adults is associated with poorer cognitive function in midlife.
abstract: Evidence for an association of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with cognitive function, predominantly in older adults, is inconsistent. No report has examined the association of LTL dynamics (age-specific LTL and its attrition rate) with cognitive function. We aimed to examine the association of LTL dynamics over 13 years in young adulthood with cognitive function in midlife. 497 individuals who had LTL measured at ages 28-32 and 41-46 years were assessed at ages 48-52 for global cognitive function and its five specific component domains with a NeuroTrax computerized test battery. Multivariable regression and logistic models were applied for cognition treated as a continuous and categorical variable, respectively. We found that LTL attrition (adjusted for sex, baseline LTL and potential confounders including socioeconomic variables) was inversely associated with global cognition (standardized β = -.119, p = .004) and its component domains: information processing speed (β = -.102, p = .024), visual-spatial function (β = -.102, p = .017) and memory (β = -.093, p = .045), but less so for the attention and executive domains. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for low global cognition comparing the upper versus lower thirds of LTL attrition was 2.12 (95 % CI 1.11-4.08, p for trend = .023). There was no association of baseline or follow-up LTL with cognition. No effect modification was evident for sex, smoking or inflammatory markers. In conclusion, faster LTL attrition in young adulthood was associated with poorer global and domain-specific cognitive function in midlife, suggesting that more rapid LTL attrition may be predictive of cognitive aging in healthy young adults.
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Ein Kerem, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel. irit.cm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Irit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cohen-Manheim
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, NeuroTrax Corporation, Bellaire, TX, USA.|Center for Medical Decision Making, Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono, Israel.
authors.forename: Glen Michael
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Doniger
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Ein Kerem, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinnreich
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, NeuroTrax Corporation, Bellaire, TX, USA.|Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ely Samuel
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Ein Kerem, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinchas
authors.affiliation: Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviv
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Ein Kerem, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Jeremy David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology*; D059506:Telomere Shortening; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Biomarker; Cognition; Leukocyte telomere length; Life course epidemiology; Telomere attrition; Young adults