Fact checked byHeather Biele

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January 26, 2023
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Reduced kidney function linked to higher levels of dementia-related blood biomarkers

Fact checked byHeather Biele
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Reduced kidney function was associated with increased levels of dementia-related blood biomarkers, but not an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

“Kidney function has been previously associated with risk of dementia, including AD and vascular dementia,” Hannah Stocker, PhD, MPH, of Heidelberg University in Germany, and colleagues wrote. “The literature regarding this association, however, has been inconsistent, with several studies showing no association between kidney function and dementia risk or cognitive decline.”

kidney
Reduced kidney function was associated with increased levels of dementia-related blood biomarkers, but not an increased risk for dementia. Source: Adobe Stock

Stocker and colleagues sought to evaluate the association of kidney function with risk for diagnosis of incident AD or dementia within 17 years, and with the blood biomarkers neurofilament light, phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).

The authors conducted a prospective, population-based cohort study and nested case-control study with 9,940 German participants who were enrolled between 2000 and 2002 and monitored for up to 17 years.

A total of 6,256 participants (mean age at baseline, 61.7 years; 54.4% women) completed follow-up, with 510 receiving an all-cause dementia diagnosis within the 17 years. The dementia-related blood biomarker nested case-control sample included 766 participants.

Impaired kidney function at baseline was not associated with a higher risk for all-cause dementia (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.69-1.29), AD (HR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.55-1.63) or vascular dementia diagnosis (HR = 1.06; 95% CI, 0.65-1.7) within 17 years.

However, impaired kidney function was significantly associated with neurofilament light (beta = 0.47) and p-tau181 (beta = 0.21) levels in the blood. Researchers also reported significant associations with GFAP levels but only among male participants (men, beta = 0.31; women, beta = –0.12).

“Impaired kidney function was associated with higher [neurofilament light] and p-tau181 levels in blood, but not with AD or all-cause dementia risk in a prospective community-based cohort followed up for 17 years,” Stocker and colleagues wrote. “A sex-specific association between kidney function and GFAP level was apparent, with significant associations seen only among men.”