Associations of blood absolute neutrophil count and cytokines with cognitive function in dementia-free participants: a population-based cohort study.

Oct 02, 2023

Contributors: Wenxin Fa,Xiaoyan Liang,Keke Liu,Nan Wang,Cuicui Liu,Na Tian,Min Zhu,Yixun Ma,Lin Song,Shi Tang,Lin Cong,Yongxiang Wang,Tingting Hou,Yifeng Du,Chengxuan Qiu

The relationships of neutrophils and cytokines with cognitive dysfunction are poorly defined. We aimed to investigate the association of peripheral blood absolute neutrophil count (ANC) with cognitive function in older adults and to further explore the mediating role of serum cytokines in this association.
This population-based cohort study included 1,666 dementia-free participants (age ≥60 years) derived from baseline examinations (March-September 2018) of the Multimodal Intervention to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China (MIND-China); of these, 1,087 participants completed follow-up examinations in October-December 2019. We used a neuropsychological test battery to assess episodic memory, verbal fluency, attention, and executive function at the baseline and follow-up examinations. We used Mindray BC-6800 automated hematology analyzer to measure ANC and Meso Scale Discovery to measure serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and eotaxin-3.
The linear regression analysis of cross-sectional data at baseline (n=1,666) suggested that increased ANC was significantly associated with a lower episodic memory z-score (multivariable-adjusted β coefficient: -0.149, 95% CI: -0.274 to -0.023) and lower long-delayed free recall z-score (-0.216, -0.361 to -0.070). Serum IL-6 and eotaxin-3 could mediate 16.16% to 20.21% and 7.55% to 9.35%, respectively, of these associations. The analysis of longitudinal data (n=1,087) showed a J-shaped relationship of ANC with decline in episodic memory z-score (p for nonlinear=0.049), and a U-shaped relationship between ANC and decline in long-delayed free recall z-score (p for nonlinear=0.043).
Increased neutrophils are associated with poor cognitive performance and accelerated decline in episodic memory, and the cross-sectional association is partly mediated by serum cytokines.

© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Wenxin Fa,Xiaoyan Liang,Keke Liu,Nan Wang,Cuicui Liu,Na Tian,Min Zhu,Yixun Ma,Lin Song,Shi Tang,Lin Cong,Yongxiang Wang,Tingting Hou,Yifeng Du,Chengxuan Qiu
Wenxin Fa

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Xiaoyan Liang

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Keke Liu

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Nan Wang

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Cuicui Liu

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Na Tian

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Min Zhu

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Yixun Ma

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Lin Song

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shi Tang

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Lin Cong

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Yongxiang Wang

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Tingting Hou

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Yifeng Du

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Chengxuan Qiu

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.

Aging Research Center and Center for Alzheimer Research, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet-Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.