Greater carotid distensibility predicted improved cognitive performance over 13 years in participants, with notable outcomes in various cognitive tests.
Does increased carotid distensibility predict improved cognitive performance over 13 years in relatives of patients with early-onset coronary artery disease?
Greater carotid distensibility in midlife is associated with better long-term cognitive performance, highlighting carotid stiffness as a potential modifiable vascular risk factor.
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Introduction: Carotid artery stiffness may contribute to cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive decline through impaired vascular compliance. Carotid distensibility, a direct measure of arterial stiffness, may serve as a vascular biomarker predicting latter cognitive performance. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that less carotid distensibility, increasing stiffness, would be associated with worse longitudinal cognitive performance. Methods: 313 GeneSTAR participants, relatives of patients with early-onset coronary artery disease, underwent carotid ultrasound and cognitive testing at baseline and again 13 years later. Linear mixed-effects models estimated the interaction between timepoint × carotid distensibility (z-scored), adjusting for age, sex, race, education, and systolic blood pressure, with random intercepts for family and participant. Cognitive outcomes included: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); Digit Span Forward, Backward, Total; Delayed Word Recall 1, Short, long; Digit Symbol Substitution Test; Word Fluency; Grooved Pegboard Dominant Time; and Grooved Pegboard Non-Dominant Hand Time. Results: Greater carotid distensibility predicted better trajectories on Grooved Pegboard Dominant Hand Time (β = –8.95, p = 0.002), Digit Symbol Substitution total correct (β = 1.41, p = 0.013), Delayed Word Recall Long (β = 0.33, p = 0.024), and Delayed Word Recall Short (β = 0.30, p = 0.032). Positive trends were observed for MMSE (β = 0.21, p = 0.069), Grooved Pegboard Non-Dominant Hand Time (β = –6.60, p = 0.094), and Digit Span Total (β = 0.47, p = 0.104). (Table 1) Conclusions: Over 13 years of follow-up, greater carotid distensibility was associated with better performance on several cognitive tests. These findings suggest that carotid distensibility may protect against long-term cognitive decline and highlights the importance of carotid stiffness as a modifiable vascular risk factor in midlife.
Sasannia et al. (Thu,) reported a other. Greater carotid distensibility predicted improved cognitive performance over 13 years in participants, with notable outcomes in various cognitive tests.