This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: The current study examined the association between pulse pressure (PP) and CSF-based biomarkers for Alzheimer disease, including β-amyloid 1–42 (Aβ1–42) and phosphorylated tau (P-tau) protein, in cognitively normal older adults.
Methods: One hundred seventy-seven cognitively normal, stroke-free older adult participants (aged 55–100 years) underwent blood pressure assessment for determination of PP (systolic − diastolic blood pressure) and lumbar puncture for measurement of CSF Aβ1–42 and P-tau. Pearson correlations and multiple linear regression, controlling for age, sex, APOE genotype, and body mass index, evaluated the relationship between PP and Alzheimer disease biomarkers.
Results: PP elevation was associated with increased P-tau (r = 0.23, p = 0.002), reduced Aβ1–42 (r = −0.19, p = 0.01), and increased P-tau to Aβ1–42 ratio (r = 0.27, p < 0.001). After controlling for covariates, PP remained associated with P-tau (β = 0.18, p = 0.0196) and P-tau to Aβ1–42 ratio (β = 0.0016, p < 0.001) but was no longer associated with Aβ1–42 (β = −0.1, p = 0.35). Post hoc multivariate analyses indicated that increased PP was associated with all biomarkers in younger participants (aged 55–70 years) (Aβ1–42: p = 0.050; P-tau: p = 0.003; P-tau to Aβ ratio: p = 0.0007) but not older participants (aged 70–100 years).
Conclusions: PP elevation is associated with increased CSF P-tau and decreased Aβ1–42 in cognitively normal older adults, suggesting that pulsatile hemodynamics may be related to amyloidosis and tau-related neurodegeneration. The relationship between PP and CSF biomarkers is age-dependent and observed only in participants in the fifth and sixth decades of life.
GLOSSARY
- Aβ1–42=
- β-amyloid 1–42;
- AD=
- Alzheimer disease;
- BMI=
- body mass index;
- BP=
- blood pressure;
- PP=
- pulse pressure;
- P-tau=
- phosphorylated tau;
- UCSD=
- University of California, San Diego
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received May 7, 2013.
- Accepted in final form September 4, 2013.
- © 2013 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
NOTE: All authors' disclosures must be entered and current in our database before comments can be posted. Enter and update disclosures at http://submit.neurology.org. Exception: replies to comments concerning an article you originally authored do not require updated disclosures.
- Stay timely. Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- 200 words maximum.
- 5 references maximum. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- 5 authors maximum. Exception: replies can include all original authors of the article.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.