NT-proBNP and changes in cognition and global brain structure: the Rotterdam Study.

Abstract

To investigate the association between NT-proBNP and changes in cognition and global brain structure. In the Rotterdam Study, baseline NT-proBNP was assessed at baseline from 1997 to 2008. Between 1997-2016, participants without dementia or stroke at baseline (n= 9,566) had repeated cognitive tests (every 3-6 years) for global cognitive function, executive cognitive function, fine manual dexterity, and memory. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed repeatedly at re-examination visits between 2005 and 2015 for 2,607 participants to obtain brain volumes, focal brain lesions, and white matter microstructural integrity as measures of brain structure. Among 9,566 participants (mean age 65.1±9.8 years), 5,444 (56.9%) were women, and repeated measures of cognition were performed during a median follow-up time of 5.5 years (range = 1.1-17.9), of whom 2,607 participants completed at least one brain imaging scans. Higher levels of NT-proBNP were associated with a faster decline of scores in the global cognitive function (P value = 0.003), and the Word-Fluency test (P value = 0.003), but were not related to a steeper deterioration in brain volumes, global fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity, as indicators of white matter microstructural integrity, or focal brain lesions. Higher baseline NT-proBNP levels were associated with a faster decline in cognition, however, no association with global brain structure was found.