title: Serum protein mediators of dementia and aging proper.
abstract: The latent variable "δ" (for "dementia") appears to be uniquely responsible for the dementing aspects of cognitive impairment. Age, depressive symptoms, gender and the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele are independently associated with δ. In this analysis, we explore serum proteins as potential mediators of age's specific association with δ in a large, ethnically diverse longitudinal cohort, the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC). 22 serum proteins were recognized as partial mediators of age's association with δ. These include Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 2 (IGF-BP2), which we had previously associated with age-specific cognitive change, and both Pancreatic Polypeptide (PP) and von Willebrand Factor (vWF), previously associated with δ. Nine other δ-related proteins were not confirmed by this ethnicity adjusted analysis. Our findings suggest that age's association with the disabling fraction of cognitive performance is partially mediated by serum proteins, somatomedins and hormones. Those proteins may offer targets for the specific treatment of age-related effects on dementia severity and conversion risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.|Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.|Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.|South Texas Veterans' Health System Audie L. Murphy Division GRECC, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Royall
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Safa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Rubaye
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bishnoi
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Raymond F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: aging; cognition; dementia; functional status; g; intelligence