CAIDE Dementia Risk Score Indicates Cortical Thinning in Low‐Risk, Middle‐Aged Adults

Abstract

Increased risk for the future development of Alzheimer's disease begins as early as midlife and can be predicted using modifiable cardiovascular and lifestyle‐related risk factors. The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) dementia risk score has been used to predict late life risk of dementia based on midlife vascular risk factors. Additionally, in older adults with mild or subjective cognitive impairment, higher CAIDE scores were associated with greater atrophy in the middle temporal and frontal regions of the brain.PurposeWe aimed to determine if CAIDE score is associated with cortical thickness in middle‐aged cognitively intact adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized individuals with higher CAIDE scores would have reduced cortical thickness in a priori regions associated with memory and attention‐executive function.MethodsA total of 155 middle‐age adults (49±6 years, 52.4% female) classified as cognitively normal were studied. CAIDE score was calculated using the original model that excludes ApoE e4 genotype. This includes age, sex, education level, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol, and physical inactivity. Each factor is given a specific weight and the total score ranges from 0 to 14. Cortical thickness was obtained from high resolution magnetization‐prepared rapid acquisition gradient‐echo images. Thickness values for 24 a priori regions of interest associated with memory and executive function were extracted and analyzed.ResultsA majority of the participants (95.5%) in this sample were categorized as low‐risk, having a CAIDE score of 8 or lower. After using a corrected p‐value (p=0.006) for multiple correlations, there were several significant negative associations between CAIDE score and cortical thickness. These include the right parahippocampal (r=−0.251, p=0.002), left pars opercularis (r=−0.244, p=0.002), right superior frontal (r=−0.229, p=0.004) and left superior frontal (r=−0.247, p=0.002) regions.ConclusionsHigher CAIDE scores in midlife are associated with lower cortical thickness in middle‐age adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. This finding supports the notion that cardiovascular risks may contribute to early alteration of brain structure. We propose that the CAIDE dementia risk score may be useful in predicting future risk of dementia even in low‐risk populations who have no indication of clinically significant cognitive impairment.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.