Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, Memory and Aging Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Brain Behav Immun. 2012 Jan;26(1):103-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.07.240. Epub 2011 Aug 6.
Recent research suggests a central role for inflammatory mechanisms in cognitive decline that may occur prior to evidence of neurodegeneration. Limited information exists, however, regarding the relationship between low-grade inflammation and cognitive function in healthy older adults. This study examined the relation between inflammation, verbal memory consolidation, and medial temporal lobe volumes in a cohort of older community-dwelling subjects. Subjects included 141 functionally intact, community-dwelling older adults with detectable (n=76) and undetectable (n=65) levels of C-reactive protein. A verbal episodic memory measure was administered to all subjects, and measures of delayed recall and recognition memory were assessed. A semiautomated parcellation program was used to analyze structural MRI scans. On the episodic memory task, analysis of covariance revealed a significant CRP group by memory recall interaction, such that participants with detectable levels of CRP evidenced worse performance after a delay compared to those with undetectable levels of CRP. Individuals with detectable CRP also demonstrated lower performance on a measure of recognition memory. Imaging data demonstrated smaller left medial temporal lobe volumes in the detectable CRP group as compared with the undetectable CRP group. These findings underscore a potential role for inflammation in cognitive aging as a modifiable risk factor.
最近的研究表明，炎症机制在认知能力下降中起着核心作用，而这种下降可能发生在神经退行性病变的证据出现之前。然而，关于健康老年人中低度炎症与认知功能之间的关系，目前的信息有限。本研究在一组年龄较大的社区居住的受试者中，检查了炎症与言语记忆巩固和内侧颞叶体积之间的关系。受试者包括 141 名功能健全、居住在社区的老年人，他们的 C-反应蛋白水平可检测（n=76）和不可检测（n=65）。所有受试者都接受了言语情节记忆测试，并评估了延迟回忆和识别记忆测试。使用半自动分割程序分析结构磁共振扫描。在情节记忆任务中，协方差分析显示 CRP 组与记忆回忆的交互作用具有统计学意义，即与 CRP 不可检测水平的参与者相比，CRP 可检测水平的参与者在延迟后表现更差。CRP 可检测的个体在识别记忆测试中表现也较差。影像学数据显示，可检测 CRP 组的左侧内侧颞叶体积小于不可检测 CRP 组。这些发现强调了炎症作为一个可改变的风险因素，在认知衰老中的潜在作用。
