TY - JOUR
T1 - Higher plasma LDL-cholesterol is associated with preserved executive and fine motor functions in Parkinson’s disease
AU - Sterling, Nicholas W.
AU - Lichtenstein, Maya
AU - Lee, Eun Young
AU - Lewis, Mechelle M.
AU - Evans, Alicia
AU - Eslinger, Paul J.
AU - Du, Guangwei
AU - Gao, Xiang
AU - Chen, Honglei
AU - Kong, Lan
AU - Huang, Xuemei
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS060722 and NS082151 to XH), the Hershey Medical Center GCRC (National Institute of Health M01RR10732), the GCRC Construction Grant (C06RR016499), the Pennsylvania Department of Health Tobacco CURE Funds, and the intramural research program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Z01-ES-101986). All analyses, interpretations, and conclusions are those of the authors and not the research sponsors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Sterling, MW, et al.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been associated both with risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and with age-related changes in cognitive function. This prospective study examined the relationship between baseline plasma LDL-cholesterol and cognitive changes in PD and matched Controls. Fasting plasma LDL-cholesterol levels were obtained at baseline from 64 non-demented PD subjects (62.7 ± 7.9 y) and 64 Controls (61.3 ± 6.8 y). Subjects underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing at baseline, 18-, and 36-months. Linear mixed-effects modeling was used to assess the relationships between baseline LDL-cholesterol levels and longitudinal cognitive changes. At baseline, PD patients had lower scores of fine motor (p<0.0001), executive set shifting (p=0.018), and mental processing speed (p=0.049) compared to Controls. Longitudinally, Controls demonstrated improved fine motor and memory test scores (p=0.044, and p=0.003), whereas PD patients demonstrated significantly accelerated loss in fine motor skill (p=0.002) compared to Controls. Within the PD group, however, higher LDL-cholesterol levels were associated with improved executive set shifting (β=0.003, p<0.001) and fine motor scores (β=0.002, p=0.030) over time. These associations were absent in Controls (p>0.7). The cholesterol – executive set shifting association differed significantly between PDs and Controls (interaction p=0.005), whereas the cholesterol – fine motor association difference did not reach significance (interaction, p=0.104). In summary, higher plasma LDL-cholesterol levels were associated with better executive function and fine motor performance over time in PD, both of which may reflect an effect on nigrostriatal mediation. Confirmation of these results and elucidation of involved mechanisms are warranted, and might lead to feasible therapeutic strategies.
AB - Plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been associated both with risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and with age-related changes in cognitive function. This prospective study examined the relationship between baseline plasma LDL-cholesterol and cognitive changes in PD and matched Controls. Fasting plasma LDL-cholesterol levels were obtained at baseline from 64 non-demented PD subjects (62.7 ± 7.9 y) and 64 Controls (61.3 ± 6.8 y). Subjects underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing at baseline, 18-, and 36-months. Linear mixed-effects modeling was used to assess the relationships between baseline LDL-cholesterol levels and longitudinal cognitive changes. At baseline, PD patients had lower scores of fine motor (p<0.0001), executive set shifting (p=0.018), and mental processing speed (p=0.049) compared to Controls. Longitudinally, Controls demonstrated improved fine motor and memory test scores (p=0.044, and p=0.003), whereas PD patients demonstrated significantly accelerated loss in fine motor skill (p=0.002) compared to Controls. Within the PD group, however, higher LDL-cholesterol levels were associated with improved executive set shifting (β=0.003, p<0.001) and fine motor scores (β=0.002, p=0.030) over time. These associations were absent in Controls (p>0.7). The cholesterol – executive set shifting association differed significantly between PDs and Controls (interaction p=0.005), whereas the cholesterol – fine motor association difference did not reach significance (interaction, p=0.104). In summary, higher plasma LDL-cholesterol levels were associated with better executive function and fine motor performance over time in PD, both of which may reflect an effect on nigrostriatal mediation. Confirmation of these results and elucidation of involved mechanisms are warranted, and might lead to feasible therapeutic strategies.
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U2 - 10.14336/AD.2015.1030
DO - 10.14336/AD.2015.1030
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85030115192
SN - 2152-5250
VL - 7
SP - 237
EP - 245
JO - Aging and Disease
JF - Aging and Disease
IS - 3
ER -