Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41421734›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2026

Associations between white matter lesions, adiposity, and systemic inflammation in late adulthood: Results from the IGNITE study.

Shivangi Jain, Patricio Solis-Urra, Alina Lesnovskaya, Lu Wan, Cristina Molina-Hidalgo, Audrey Collins, Haiqing Huang, Kelsey R Sewell, Rebecca Reed, Renee J Rogers and 15 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

25 authors.

Shivangi JainAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA. Electronic address: shivangi.jain@adventhealth.com.
Patricio Solis-UrraAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Spain; Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Chile.
Alina LesnovskayaDepartment of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Lu WanAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Cristina Molina-HidalgoAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Audrey CollinsAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Haiqing HuangAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA.
Kelsey R SewellAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia.
Rebecca ReedDepartment of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Renee J RogersDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA.
Anna L MarslandDepartment of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
George GroveDepartment of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Lauren E OberlinAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, NY, USA.
Chaeryon KangDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
John M JakicicDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA.
Lauren RaineDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, USA.
Joseph MettenburgDepartment of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Lauren M SparksAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; AdventHealth Translational Research Institute, Orlando, USA.
Arthur F KramerDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, USA; Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.
Charles HillmanDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, USA; Center for Cognitive & Brain Health, Northeastern University, USA.
Edward McAuleyBeckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA; Department of Health and Kinesiology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Jeffrey M BurnsAlzheimer's Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA.
Eric D VidoniAlzheimer's Disease Research Center, Department of Neurology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA.
Bradley P SuttonBeckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA; Grainger College of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Kirk I EricksonAdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute, Orlando, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Funding

Investigating Gains in Neurocognition in an Intervention Trial of Exercise SupplementR01AG053952 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI BURNS, JEFFREY MURRAY, ERICKSON, KIRK I · 2016 to 2020
$27.5M
Physical Activity and Dementia: Mechanisms of ActionR35AG072307 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI ERICKSON, KIRK I · 2021 to 2025
$3.6M
Targeting Network Dysfunction in Apathy of Late-life Depression Using Digital TherapeuticsK23MH129882 · NIMH · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI Lauren Elizabeth Oberlin · 2023 to 2026
$775k
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG053952NIA NIH HHS R35 AG072307NIMH NIH HHS K23 MH129882
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

White matter hyperintensities or lesions (WMLs) increase the risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. Cardiometabolic factors (e.g., excess adiposity) and markers of systemic inflammation relate to greater WML volume, but few studies have examined whether specific compartments of adipose tissue (e.g., visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT)) relative to total body adiposity (TBA) differentially relate to WML volume or whether these patterns could be statistically mediated by inflammation. We examined associations between markers of low-grade systemic inflammation and compartments of adipose tissue relative to total body adiposity (rVAT or rASAT respectively), measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and WML volume. We hypothesized that higher rVAT and not rASAT would be associated with greater WML volume, and that this association would be statistically mediated by concentrations of inflammatory cytokines. We used baseline data (n = 648) from the multisite study "Investigating Gains in Neurocognition in an Intervention Trial of Exercise" (IGNITE; mean age = 69.9 ± 3.8 years, 70.5 % females). IL-6, IL-1RA, and TNF-α were included as markers of systemic inflammation and age, sex, years of education, hypertension status, and study site were included as covariates. Our hypotheses were partially supported such that the relationship between rVAT and WMLs, as well as between rASAT and WMLs, were statistically mediated by IL-6 and TNF-α. These findings suggest that both higher rVAT and rASAT, are associated with higher WML burden through an elevated inflammatory state. These results set a testable mechanistic pathway for future longitudinal and intervention studies examining whether managing low-grade systemic inflammation and intentional weight loss would be beneficial for supporting brain health in older adults.

Indexed as

AdiposityInflammationWhite MatterAbsorptiometry, PhotonAgedCytokinesFemaleHumansInterleukin-6Intra-Abdominal FatMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedCytokinesInterleukin-6Inflammatory cytokinesPath analysesSubcutaneous adipose tissueVisceral adipose tissueWhite matter lesions

Identifiers

PMID41421734
PMCPMC12758456

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.