Laitala Venla S, Hjelmborg Jacob, Koskenvuo Markku, Räihä Ismo, Rinne Juha O, Christensen Kaare, Kaprio Jaakko, Silventoinen Karri
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Twin Res Hum Genet. 2011 Dec;14(6):544-52. doi: 10.1375/twin.14.6.544.
We analyzed the association between mean height and old age cognition in two Nordic twin cohorts with different childhood living conditions. The cognitive performance of 4720 twin individuals from Denmark (mean age 81.6 years, SD = 4.59) and Finland (mean age 74.4 years, SD = 5.26) was measured using validated cognitive screens. Taller height was associated with better cognitive performance in Finland (beta-estimates 0.18 SD/10cm, p value < .001, for men and 0.13 SD, p = .008, for women), but this association was not significant in Denmark (beta-estimates 0.0093 SD, p value = .16, for men and 0.0075 SD, p value = .016, for women) when adjusted for age and education/social class. Among Finnish participants higher variability of cognitive performance within shorter height quintiles was observed. Analysis using gene-environment interaction models showed that environmental factors exerted a greater impact on cognitive performance in shorter participants, whereas in taller participants' it was explained mainly by genetic factors. Our results suggest that shorter participants with childhood adversity are more vulnerable to environmental risk factors for cognitive impairment.
我们分析了两个童年生活条件不同的北欧双胞胎队列中平均身高与老年认知之间的关联。使用经过验证的认知筛查方法，对来自丹麦（平均年龄81.6岁，标准差=4.59）和芬兰（平均年龄74.4岁，标准差=5.26）的4720名双胞胎个体的认知表现进行了测量。在芬兰，较高的身高与较好的认知表现相关（男性的β估计值为0.18标准差/10厘米，p值<.001；女性的β估计值为0.13标准差，p=.008），但在丹麦，在对年龄和教育程度/社会阶层进行调整后，这种关联并不显著（男性的β估计值为0.0093标准差，p值=.16；女性的β估计值为0.0075标准差，p值=.016）。在芬兰参与者中，观察到身高较短的五分位数内认知表现的变异性更高。使用基因-环境相互作用模型的分析表明，环境因素对身高较短的参与者的认知表现影响更大，而对身高较高的参与者来说，认知表现主要由遗传因素解释。我们的结果表明，童年经历过逆境的身高较短的参与者更容易受到认知障碍环境风险因素的影响。
