Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38943310›Full record

ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2024

DNA Methylation Mediates the Association Between Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Cognition: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study.

Zengyi Wan, Lori B Chibnik, Linda Valeri, Timothy M Hughes, Deborah Blacker, Yuan Ma

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Accelerated epigenetic age in hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Zengyi WanDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7843-0578
Lori B ChibnikDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6293-806X
Linda ValeriDepartment of Biostatistics, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA.
Timothy M HughesDepartment of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Deborah BlackerDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Yuan MaDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8M
Epidemiologic, imaging and pathological studies of the role of blood pressure variability in dementia etiologyR00AG071742 · NIA · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI MA, YUAN · 2023 to 2025
$715k
NIA NIH HHS R00 AG071742NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740NIA NIH HHS U01AG009740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The association between cardiometabolic risk factors and cognitive function has been well documented, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of DNA methylation in this association. We conducted the analyses in 3 708 participants (mean [standard deviation {SD}] age: 67.3 [9.5], women: 57.9%) from the Health and Retirement Study who were assessed in the 2014-2020 waves, had Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip methylation assays from the 2016 Venous Blood Study, and had cognitive assessment between 2016 and 2020. Causal mediation analyses were used to test the mediation role of DNA methylation in the associations between cardiometabolic risk factors and cognition, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors. Hypertension (-0.061 in composite cognitive z-score; 95% confidence interval [CI: -0.119, -0.004]) and diabetes (-0.134; 95% CI: [-0.198, -0.071]) were significantly associated with worse cognitive function while abnormal body weight and hypercholesterolemia were not. An increased number of cardiometabolic risk factors was associated with worse cognitive function (p = .002). DNA methylation significantly mediated the association of hypertension (mediated effect on composite cognitive z-score: -0.023; 95% CI: -0.033, -0.014), diabetes (-0.022; 95% CI: -0.032, -0.014), and obesity (-0.021; 95% CI: -0.033, -0.011) with cognitive function, whereas the mediation effect was not observed for having hypercholesterolemia. The estimated proportions mediated were 37.4% for hypertension and 16.7% for diabetes. DNA methylation may be an important mediator linking cardiometabolic risk factors to worse cognition and might even provide a potential target for dementia prevention.

Indexed as

Cardiometabolic Risk FactorsDNA MethylationAgedCognitionCognitive DysfunctionFemaleHumansHypertensionLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRisk FactorsBiological ageCardiovascular diseaseCognitive functionEpigenetics

Identifiers

PMID38943310
PMCPMC11285142

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.