Caldwell Jessica Z K, Kinney Jefferson W, Ritter Aaron, Salazar Arnold, Wong Christina G, Cordes Dietmar, Slavich George M
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Department of Brain Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Brain Behav Immun. 2021 Jul;95:27-35. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.12.001. Epub 2020 Dec 8.
Despite having an initial verbal memory advantage over men, women have greater rates of Alzheimer's disease and more rapid cognitive decline once diagnosed. Moreover, although Alzheimer's disease is influenced by inflammation, which itself has known sex differences, no study has investigated whether sex differences in memory are moderated by peripheral inflammatory activity. To address this issue, we analyzed data from 109 individuals (50 women, M = 71.62, range = 55-87) diagnosed as cognitively normal, or having mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease dementia. We then followed the sample for 12 months, as part of a longitudinal study of aging and Alzheimer's disease. At baseline, we assessed levels of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in plasma. At baseline and 12 months, we assessed verbal memory using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and nonverbal memory using the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised. As hypothesized, for the full sample, women exhibited stronger verbal (but not nonverbal) memory than men. In women, but not men, higher IL-1β at baseline related to poorer verbal learning across both time points and delayed recall at 12 months. The effect of sex on memory also differed by IL-1β level, with women exhibiting a memory advantage both at baseline and 12 months, but only for those with low-to-moderate IL-1β levels. Therefore, high peripheral inflammation levels may lead to a sex-specific memory vulnerability relevant for Alzheimer's disease.
尽管女性在最初的言语记忆方面比男性更具优势，但女性患阿尔茨海默病的几率更高，一旦被诊断出患病，认知能力下降得也更快。此外，虽然阿尔茨海默病受炎症影响，而炎症本身存在已知的性别差异，但尚无研究调查记忆方面的性别差异是否受外周炎症活动的调节。为解决这一问题，我们分析了109名个体（50名女性，M = 71.62，年龄范围 = 55 - 87岁）的数据，这些个体被诊断为认知正常、轻度认知障碍或患有阿尔茨海默病性痴呆。然后，作为衰老与阿尔茨海默病纵向研究的一部分，我们对该样本进行了为期12个月的跟踪。在基线时，我们评估了血浆中炎性细胞因子白细胞介素（IL）-1β、IL-6和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）的水平。在基线和12个月时，我们使用雷伊听觉词语学习测验评估言语记忆，使用修订版简短视觉空间记忆测验评估非言语记忆。正如所假设的，对于整个样本，女性表现出比男性更强的言语（而非非言语）记忆。在女性中，而非男性中，基线时较高的IL-1β与两个时间点较差的言语学习以及12个月时的延迟回忆相关。性别对记忆的影响也因IL-1β水平而异，女性在基线和12个月时均表现出记忆优势，但仅针对那些IL-1β水平为低至中度的女性。因此，高外周炎症水平可能导致与阿尔茨海默病相关的性别特异性记忆易损性。
