Clinical Manifestations.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Women with Alzheimer's disease (AD) initially show verbal learning advantages but faster decline.
• Sex differences in AD progression are not fully understood, but inflammation may play a role.
• Previous research in non-Hispanic white (NHW) cohorts indicated women's verbal memory is robust to moderate inflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate sex differences in inflammation's impact on verbal learning and memory in an ethnically diverse AD cohort.
• Examine how inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10) affect verbal memory in Hispanic/Latino (HL) and NHW individuals.
• Hypothesize that cognitively normal (CN) women will maintain verbal memory despite inflammation, unlike mildly cognitively impaired (MCI) women.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed data from 661 NHW and 631 HL participants in the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities.
• Assessed longitudinal sex differences in the relationship between plasma inflammatory markers and verbal learning/memory.
• Used the Spanish English Verbal Learning Test for learning and delayed recall measures.

Main Results:

• In CN Hispanic/Latino individuals, women's verbal memory was unaffected by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels, while men showed decline (p=0.035).
• Sex did not moderate the TNF-α effect on verbal memory in MCI Hispanic/Latino individuals.
• No significant sex moderation of inflammation's impact on verbal memory was found in the NHW cohort for CN or MCI groups.

Conclusions:

• Female verbal learning and memory advantages in Alzheimer's disease are influenced by ethnicity and inflammatory marker TNF-α.
• Further research is required to understand ethnic variations in resilience and vulnerability to AD.
• Investigating causal factors for these complex patterns across racial and ethnic groups is essential.