A team of researchers led by Dr. Roy Soiza recently published an article describing a novel biomarker for cognitive decline in late middle age, based on analyses of the 1936 Aberdeen Birth Cohort study (ABC36). The ABC36 study, which was initiated in 2000, recruited 506 Aberdonian participants born in 1936. Each participant had completed an assessment of cognitive performance in 1947, when they were 11, and following recruitment to the ABC study (at the age of 63) regularly underwent cognitive tests and biosampling procedures. The researchers focused on four years of followup, when participants were aged between 63 and 67 years – a period defined as ‘late middle age’.
In total, 93 participants contributed to the analyses performed by Dr. Soiza and colleagues. After adjusting for potential confounders, including cognitive performance as a child, higher levels of plasma ADMA (asymmetric dimethylarginine) at baseline were associated with a more rapid decline in cognitive performance between the ages of 63 and 67. These results suggest that ADMA, an easily measurable risk marker for cardiovascular disease, may also be an early indicator of cognitive decline in older age.
