Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.
Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 17;14(1):21702. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72806-0.
Blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration demonstrate great promise for the diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer's disease. Ultra-sensitive plasma assays now allow for quantification of the lower concentrations in cognitively unimpaired older adults, making it possible to investigate whether these markers can provide insight also into the early neurodegenerative processes that affect cognitive function and whether the markers are influenced by modifiable risk factors. Adopting an exploratory approach in 93 healthy older adults (65-75 years), we used structural equation modelling to investigate cross-sectional associations between multiple latent cognitive abilities (working memory, episodic memory, spatial and verbal reasoning) and plasma amyloid beta (Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio), phosphorylated-tau 181 (ptau-181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light (NfL), as well as the influence of device-measured habitual physical activity on these associations. The results showed that NfL was negatively associated with working memory, and that NfL interacted with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in its association with episodic memory. The study has thereby demonstrated the potential of neurodegenerative plasma markers for improving understanding of normative cognitive aging and encourages future research to test the hypothesis that high levels of NfL, indicative of white matter pathology, limit the beneficial effect of physical activity on episodic memory in healthy aging.
基于血液的神经退行性变生物标志物在阿尔茨海默病的诊断和预后方面具有巨大的潜力。超灵敏的血浆检测现在可以定量检测认知正常的老年人中较低浓度的标志物，这使得研究这些标志物是否可以深入了解影响认知功能的早期神经退行性过程，以及标志物是否受可改变的风险因素影响成为可能。在 93 名健康老年人（65-75 岁）中采用探索性方法，我们使用结构方程模型研究了多个潜在认知能力（工作记忆、情景记忆、空间和言语推理）与血浆淀粉样蛋白β（Aβ42/Aβ40 比值）、磷酸化 tau 181（ptau-181）、神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）和神经丝轻链（NfL）之间的横断面关联，以及设备测量的习惯性体力活动对这些关联的影响。结果表明，NfL 与工作记忆呈负相关，并且 NfL 与中度至剧烈体力活动的相互作用影响其与情景记忆的关联。该研究表明神经退行性血浆标志物有可能改善对正常认知衰老的理解，并鼓励未来的研究检验假设，即高水平的 NfL 表明白质病理学，限制了体力活动对健康衰老中情景记忆的有益作用。
