Trial reportThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2025
Cardiac Biomarkers, Subclinical Brain Vascular Changes, and Cognitive Decline: Post Hoc Analysis of the SPRINT Trial.
Trial report in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Heart Meets Brain: Insights into Neurocardiac Pathophysiology.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Review
- A nomogram as a screening tool for mild cognitive impairment in middle-aged and elderly patients with atrial fibrillation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe association between subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cognitive decline in hypertensive adults and the underlying brain pathologies remain unclear. It is also undetermined whether intensifying blood pressure (BP) treatment slows down cognitive decline associated with subclinical CVD.
methodsWe conducted a post hoc analysis of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial. Subclinical CVD at baseline was identified by elevated levels of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT ≥ 14 ng/L) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP ≥ 125 pg/mL). Global cognitive function and domain-specific measures (memory, processing speed, language, and executive function) were assessed at baseline and follow-up (years 2, 4, and 6) in 2 733 participants. White matter lesions, cerebral blood flow, and brain tissue volume were assessed by MRI at baseline and year 4 in a subset of 639 participants.
resultsBoth elevated hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP levels at baseline were associated with accelerated cognitive decline across all domains after adjusting for potential confounding factors. The group with elevated levels of both cardiac biomarkers showed the fastest decline, with a larger annual decline rate of 0.033 (95% CI: 0.024-0.041) in the z-score of global cognitive function compared with the group with normal levels. Elevated levels of both biomarkers were also associated with a faster progression in white matter lesions, but not with changes in total brain tissue volume or cerebral blood flow. Intensive BP treatment did not attenuate these associations compared with standard treatment.
conclusionsSubclinical CVD may contribute to faster white matter lesion progression and accelerated cognitive decline in patients with hypertension, regardless of intensive BP treatment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.