Association Between Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Stress Hormones With Cognitive Performance in Mexican Adolescents

The objective of this study was to determine whether cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and stress hormones are associated with cognitive performance in Mexican adolescents.

This was a cross-sectional study including 139 Mexican adolescents 10-14 years old. Participants were divided into three categories: 0, 1-2, and ≥3 CVD risk factors. These factors included: high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) <40 mg/dl; waist circumference (WC) ≥90th percentile for age and sex, systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥90th percentile for age, sex, and height; and triacylglycerols (TGs) ≥110 mg/dl. Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C), total cholesterol, cortisol, and plasma catecholamines were measured as well. Furthermore, attention, memory, and executive functions were evaluated using a validated test for Spanish-speaking individuals (Neuropsi).

Adolescents in the three risk categories did not show significant differences in Neuropsi test performance tasks; however, they presented different lipid and plasma norepinephrine concentrations. TG and VLDL-C were inversely associated with memory (r = -0.19, **p < .01). Multivariate regression analysis showed consistently that TG/HDL-C ratio was inversely related to attention-memory general score (standardized β = -0.99, t = -2.30, p = .023), memory (standardized β = -0.83, t = -2.08, p = .039), and attention-executive functions (standardized β = -1.02, t = -2.42, p = .017). Plasma epinephrine levels presented an inverse and weak relation to the attention-executive functions score (standardized β = -0.18, t = -2.19, p = .030).

Cognitive performance is not completely dependent on the accumulation of risk factors, but instead on the combination of strong predictors of CVD like waist to height ratio, TG/HDL-C, and VLDL-C. Plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine have a stronger association with cognition and CVD risk than dopamine and cortisol.