UCSF

Dementia severity can be quantitatively described by the latent dementia phenotype 'δ' and its various composite 'homologues'. We have explored δ's blood-based protein biomarkers in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium. However, it would be convenient to replicate them in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. To that end, we have engineered a δ homologue from the observed cognitive performance measures common to both projects [i.e. 'd:Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium to Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative' (dT2A)]. In this analysis, we confirm 13/22 serum proteins as partial mediators of age's effect on dementia severity as measured by dT2A in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium and then replicate 4/13 in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative's plasma data. The replicated mediators of age-specific effects on dementia severity are adiponectin, follicle-stimulating hormone, pancreatic polypeptide and resistin. In their aggregate, the 13 confirmed age-specific mediators suggest that 'cognitive frailty' pays a role in dementia severity as measured by δ. We provide both discriminant and concordant support for that hypothesis. Weight, calculated low-density lipoprotein and body mass index are partial mediators of age's effect in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium. Biomarkers related to other disease processes (e.g. cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's disease-specific biomarkers in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative) are not. It now appears that dementia severity is the sum of multiple independent processes impacting δ. Each may have a unique set of mediating biomarkers. Age's unique effect appears to be at least partially mediated through proteins related to frailty. Age-specific mediation effects can be replicated across cohorts and biofluids. These proteins may offer targets for the remediation of age-specific cognitive decline (aka 'senility'), help distinguish it from other determinants of dementia severity and/or provide clues to the biology of Aging Proper.