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Thrombopoietin is associated with δ's intercept, and only in Non-Hispanic Whites
Donald R Royall1, Raymond F Palmer2
1Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA; Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA; Department of Family and Community Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA; South Texas Veterans' Health System, Audie L. Murphy Division GRECC, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Introduction:
Serum thrombopoietin (THPO) is a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the latent dementia phenotype, "δ". Both associations may be specific to non-Hispanic whites (NHW), not Mexican-Americans (MA). In this analysis, we examine ethnicity's effect on THPO's association with change in δ scores, in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC).
Methods:
We constructed an ethnicity equivalent δ homolog ("dEQ") among n = 1113 MA and n = 1958 NHW. dEQ was output as a composite "dEQ-score" for each of five annual TARCC waves. Those composites were used as indicators of a latent growth curve (LGC). The mean dEQ intercept (idEQ) and slope (ΔdEQ) were estimated in a random subset of N = 1528 participants and replicated in the remainder (n = 1544). THPO was regressed onto idEQ and ΔdEQ. Those associations were tested separately in MA and NHW.
Results:
dEQ correlated strongly with CDR-SB (r = 0.99, P < .001) and achieved high AUCs for AD diagnosis at each wave (range = 0.95-0.99). THPO was significantly associated with idEQ but not ΔdEQ. That effect was observed in NHW only. In MA, THPO had no associations with either idEQ or ΔdEQ.
Discussion:
We confirm THPO's ethnicity-specific association with δ in NHW. It is further clarified that this association is specific to δ's intercept and not its slope. This analysis provides a model for how dementia's specific serum biomarkers can be characterized.
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