Testing influences of APOE and BDNF genes and heart failure on cognitive function.
Miyeon Jung, Liana G Apostolova, Sujuan Gao and 5 others
PMID 32703621WHAT IT FOUND
Heart failure was associated with worse attention, language and executive function, but not memory, after age, education, gender, comorbidities and genes were considered.
In the small heart failure group, APOE ε4 was associated with worse memory.
Key findings
01Among 7166 participants, heart failure was associated with worse attention and language performance after controlling for age, gender, education, atrial fibrillation, stroke or transient ischemic attack, depression and genetic factors.
02In the 174 participants with heart failure, APOE ε4 was associated with worse verbal memory, but not attention, executive function or language.
03Participants with heart failure were almost twice as likely to have MCI (OR = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.14 to 2.91) and 1.39 times more likely to have AD (OR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.93) than participants without heart failure.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Heart failure history was self-reported, so some participants may have been misclassified. The analysis included only participants with reported White race, so results may not apply to other ancestry groups. The heart failure group was small, with 174 participants, and the authors note that low APOE ε2 frequency means conclusions about ε2 in heart failure should be interpreted with caution. The study used baseline data from existing databases, so it cannot show that heart failure or genetic factors caused cognitive decline. The heart failure genetic analysis used a single verbal memory measure and an AD-focused cohort, which the authors note limits interpretation.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists research support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that heart failure causes cognitive impairment or that genetic testing should guide care. The study is observational, heart failure was self-reported, participants were only White, and the heart failure group was small.