Effect of Ibuprofen on BrainAGE: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Response Exploratory Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Pharmacology
• Brain Aging

Background:

• Brain age gap estimation (BrainAGE) quantifies morphological variation for estimating brain age.
• BrainAGE is calculated as the difference between predicted brain age and chronological age.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the utility of BrainAGE for detecting pharmacological effects on brain morphology.
• To investigate the acute impact of ibuprofen on BrainAGE in healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• A double-blind, crossover study involving 20 healthy participants (23-47 years).
• Structural MRI scans were acquired 45 minutes post-administration of placebo or ibuprofen (200/600 mg).
• An established BrainAGE model was applied to assess temporary neuroanatomical changes.

Main Results:

• The BrainAGE model demonstrated high accuracy (MAE 6.7 years, ICC 0.96).
• Ibuprofen (200 and 600 mg) significantly decreased BrainAGE by ~1.15 years compared to placebo (p < .05).
• The medial prefrontal cortex was identified as the most significant age predictor.

Conclusions:

• BrainAGE serves as a valuable metric for evaluating the neurological impact of drugs.
• Ibuprofen's acute anti-inflammatory effects appear to temporarily reduce brain age by about one year.