Serum Uric Acid, Alzheimer-Related Brain Changes, and Cognitive Impairment

• Published in: Frontiers in aging neuroscience Vol. 12; p. 160
• Main Authors: Kim, Jee Wook, Byun, Min Soo, Yi, Dahyun, Lee, Jun Ho, Jeon, So Yeon, Ko, Kang, Jung, Gijung, Lee, Han Na, Lee, Jun-Young, Sohn, Chul-Ho, Lee, Yun-Sang, Shin, Seong A, Kim, Yu Kyeong, Lee, Dong Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 05.06.2020; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Antioxidants; Cardiovascular disease; cerebral glucose metabolism; Cognitive ability; cognitive impairment; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Glucose metabolism; Magnetic resonance imaging; Memory; Metabolism; Nervous system; neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroimaging; Neuroscience; Positron emission tomography; Recall; Scanners; serum uric acid; Substantia alba; Tau protein; Uric acid; β-Amyloid; neurodegeneration; cognitive impairment; serum uric acid; Alzheimer’s disease; cerebral glucose metabolism
• ISSN: 1663-4365; 1663-4365
• DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.00160

Despite known associations of lower serum uric acid (UA) with Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia or AD-related cognitive impairment, little is known regarding the underlying patho-mechanisms. We aimed to examine the relationships of serum UA with in vivo AD pathologies including cerebral beta-amyloid (Aβ) and tau deposition, AD-signature region cerebral glucose metabolism (AD-CM), and white matter hyperintensities (WMH). We also investigated the association between serum UA and cognitive performance, and then assessed whether such an association is mediated by the brain pathologies. A total of 430 non-demented older adults underwent comprehensive clinical assessments, measurement of serum UA level, and multimodal brain imaging, including Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography (PET), AV-1451 PET, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET, and magnetic resonance imaging scans. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and word list recall (WLR) test scores were used to measure cognitive performance. Serum UA level was significantly associated with AD-CM, but not with Aβ deposition, tau deposition, or WMH volume. Serum UA levels also had significant association with WLR and marginal association with MMSE; such associations disappeared when AD-CM was controlled as a covariate, indicating that AD-CM has a mediating effect. The findings of the present study indicate that there is an association of low serum UA with AD-related cerebral hypometabolism, and whether this represents a causal relationship remains to be determined.