Adiponectin Tied to Dementia, Alzheimer's Risk in Women

Women with baseline adiponectin values above median have higher risk of all-cause dementia, AD

MONDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Plasma levels of adiponectin are an independent risk factor for all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in women, according to a study published online Jan. 2 in the Archives of Neurology.

Thomas M. van Himbergen, Ph.D., of Tufts University in Boston, and colleagues utilized data from the Framingham Heart Study to evaluate the relative contributions of biomarkers of glucose homeostasis and inflammation to the risk for all-cause dementia and AD. Participants included 840 individuals (541 women) with a median age of 76 years who were followed for a median of 13 years. The association of biomarkers (adiponectin, glycated albumin, insulin levels, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 levels) with the development of AD and all-cause dementia was measured, after adjusting for potential confounding variables.

The researchers found that 159 patients developed dementia, including 125 with AD. In women, only adiponectin was associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and AD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.29 [P = 0.054] and 1.33 [P = 0.05], respectively) for a one-standard deviation increase in adiponectin. Compared with women with adiponectin values less than the median, those with baseline values above the median had a significantly increased risk of all-cause dementia and AD (HR, 1.63 and 1.87, respectively).

"To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study to report that adiponectin level is an independent risk factor for all-cause dementia and AD in women," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and health care industries.

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