Brain water measure linked to stroke and dementia
Higher brain water measurements were associated with stroke and dementia, with odds ratios of 3.14 and 4.15, respectively.
Our read
Biomarkers- Studied:
- Cohort study of 42,039 UK Biobank and Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants
- What changed:
- Higher brain water measurements were associated with stroke and dementia, with odds ratios of 3.14 and 4.15, respectively
- The catch:
- Shared vascular influences could explain the links between brain water, stroke, and dementia
- In the record:
- The 5th paper on white matter free water with results in people; 12 on record in all.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Among 42,039 people from the UK Biobank and Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative cohorts, a multi-omics study combined brain scans with genetic and protein analyses. It focused on free water in white matter: water outside cells in brain tissue containing nerve fibers. Higher scan measurements were associated with stroke and dementia. The odds ratios express relative odds, not a person’s absolute disease risk.
Genetic analyses identified 27 independent DNA regions associated with the water measure. Mendelian randomization analyses, which use genetic variants to examine links between traits, supported an association between high blood pressure and white matter free water. Protein analyses also identified candidate proteins potentially linking blood-pressure-related blood vessel processes to variation in the measure.
Why it matters
For age-related conditions such as dementia, the authors suggest this brain scan measure may help identify people at greater neurological risk.
Caveats
Brain water measurements and neurological disorders may share underlying vascular influences. These associations do not show that changing brain water would reduce disease risk.
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