Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42555275›Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2026

Edentulism, blood-based neurodegenerative biomarkers, and 10-year dementia risk: A mediation analysis in a nationally representative United States cohort.

Xiang Qi, Ruotong Liu, Daniel W Belsky, Qu Tian, Huabin Luo, Yunrui Liu, Zhijing Xu, Kenneth M Langa, Bei Wu

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In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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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

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Xiang QiRory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, New York, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3958-8609
Ruotong LiuRory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Daniel W BelskyDepartment of Epidemiology and Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Qu TianLongitudinal Studies Section (LSS), Translational Gerontology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Huabin LuoBrody School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Yunrui LiuRory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Zhijing XuRory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Kenneth M LangaDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Bei WuNYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6891-244X

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
Elucidating the Link Between Oral Health and Dementia Subtypes: A Multifaceted Study on the Biological Pathways and Social DeterminantsR01AG089856 · NIA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI Huabin Luo, Xiang Qi · 2024 to 2026
$2.4M
Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on AgingNIA NIH HHS R01 AG089856NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740NIH HHS R01AG089856
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionTooth loss is associated with dementia risk, but mechanisms remain unclear. We examined whether blood-based neurodegenerative biomarkers mediate the edentulism-cognition association.

methodsAmong 4238 Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50+, we linked edentulism (2012), biomarkers (neurofilament light chain [NfL], glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], phosphorylated tau-181, and amyloid-β [Aβ] 42/40; 2016), and 10-year cognitive outcomes (2012-2022).

resultsEdentulism was associated with higher NfL (β = 4.21) and GFAP (β = 8.06), but not pTau-181 or Aβ42/40, and predicted cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR] 1.49) and dementia (HR 1.28). GFAP mediated 9.8% and 12.0% of the cognitive impairment and dementia associations, respectively; NfL mediated 9.8% of the dementia association but not cognitive impairment.

conclusionIn this observational cohort, elevated NfL and GFAP were associated with, and accounted for a small proportion of, the edentulism-cognition association. These associative findings support further study of oral health in dementia prevention but do not establish a causal effect.

Indexed as

DementiaMouth, EdentulousAgedAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersCognitive DysfunctionCohort StudiesFemaleGlial Fibrillary Acidic ProteinHumansMaleNeurofilament ProteinsRisk Factorstau ProteinsUnited StatesAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersGFAP protein, humanGlial Fibrillary Acidic Proteinneurofilament protein LNeurofilament Proteinstau ProteinsAlzheimer's diseaseneurodegenerationoral healthperiodontitistooth loss

Identifiers

PMID42555275
PMCPMC13440353

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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.