Serum cortisol is negatively related to hippocampal volume, brain structure, and memory performance in healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Autor:	Dronse J; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Ohndorf A; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Richter N; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Bischof GN; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Multimodal Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Fassbender R; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Behfar Q; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Gramespacher H; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Dillen K; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Palliative Medicine, Multimodal Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Jacobs HIL; Department of Radiology, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.; School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands., Kukolja J; Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Helios University Hospital Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.; Faculty of Health Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany., Fink GR; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Onur OA; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany.; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in aging neuroscience [Front Aging Neurosci] 2023 May 12; Vol. 15, pp. 1154112. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 12 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI:	10.3389/fnagi.2023.1154112
Abstrakt:	Objective: Elevated cortisol levels have been frequently reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and linked to brain atrophy, especially of the hippocampus. Besides, high cortisol levels have been shown to impair memory performance and increase the risk of developing AD in healthy individuals. We investigated the associations between serum cortisol levels, hippocampal volume, gray matter volume and memory performance in healthy aging and AD. Methods: In our cross-sectional study, we analyzed the relationships between morning serum cortisol levels, verbal memory performance, hippocampal volume, and whole-brain voxel-wise gray matter volume in an independent sample of 29 healthy seniors (HS) and 29 patients along the spectrum of biomarker-based AD. Results: Cortisol levels were significantly elevated in patients with AD as compared to HS, and higher cortisol levels were correlated with worse memory performance in AD. Furthermore, higher cortisol levels were significantly associated with smaller left hippocampal volumes in HS and indirectly negatively correlated to memory function through hippocampal volume. Higher cortisol levels were further related to lower gray matter volume in the hippocampus and temporal and parietal areas in the left hemisphere in both groups. The strength of this association was similar in HS and AD. Conclusion: In AD, cortisol levels are elevated and associated with worse memory performance. Furthermore, in healthy seniors, higher cortisol levels show a detrimental relationship with brain regions typically affected by AD. Thus, increased cortisol levels seem to be indirectly linked to worse memory function even in otherwise healthy individuals. Cortisol may therefore not only serve as a biomarker of increased risk for AD, but maybe even more importantly, as an early target for preventive and therapeutic interventions. Competing Interests: GF serves as an editorial board member of Cortex, Neurological Research and Practice, NeuroImage: Clinical, Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie, and DGNeurologie. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2023 Dronse, Ohndorf, Richter, Bischof, Fassbender, Behfar, Gramespacher, Dillen, Jacobs, Kukolja, Fink and Onur.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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