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Serum ceramides increase the risk of Alzheimer disease: the Women's Health and Aging Study II
Mielke MM, Bandaru VV, Haughey NJ, Xia J, Fried LP, Yasar S, Albert M, Varma V et al.. Neurology, 2012-07-18
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objectives Previous studies have shown that high serum ceramides are associated with memory impairment and hippocampal volume loss, but have not examined dementia as an outcome. The aim of this study was to examine whether serum ceramides and sphingomyelins (SM) were associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods Participants included 99 women without dementia aged 70-79, with baseline serum SM and ceramides, enrolled in a longitudinal population-based study and followed for up to 6 visits over 9 years. Baseline lipids, in tertiles, were examined in relation to all-cause dementia and AD using discrete time Cox proportional survival analysis. Lipids were analyzed using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Results Twenty-seven (27.3%) of the 99 women developed incident dementia. Of these, 18 (66.7%) were diagnosed with probable AD. Higher baseline serum ceramides, but not SM, were associated with an increased risk of AD; these relationships were stronger than with all-cause dementia. Compared to the lowest tertile, the middle and highest tertiles of ceramide d18:1-C16:0 were associated with a 10-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-85.1) and 7.6-fold increased risk of AD (95% CI 0.9-62.1), respectively. The highest tertiles of ceramide d18:1-C24:0 (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.1, 95% CI 1.1-23.6) and lactosylceramide (HR = 9.8, 95% CI 1.2-80.1) were also associated with risk of AD. Total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were not associated with dementia or AD. Conclusions Results from this preliminary study suggest that particular species of serum ceramides are associated with incident AD and warrant continued examination in larger studies.
Key findings
- Objectives Previous studies have shown that high serum ceramides are associated with memory impairment and hippocampal volume loss, but have not examined dementia as an outcome.
- The aim of this study was to examine whether serum ceramides and sphingomyelins (SM) were associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD).
- Results Twenty-seven (27.3%) of the 99 women developed incident dementia.
- Higher baseline serum ceramides, but not SM, were associated with an increased risk of AD; these relationships were stronger than with all-cause dementia.
- Compared to the lowest tertile, the middle and highest tertiles of ceramide d18:1-C16:0 were associated with a 10-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-85.1) and 7.6-fold increased risk of AD (95% CI 0.9-62.1), respectively.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants99
- Effect size27.3%; 66.7%; HR = 9.8
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 67 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 99 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22815558) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 39 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 67 out of 100. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Mielke, M. M., Bandaru, V. V., Haughey, N. J., Xia, J., Fried, L. P., Yasar, S., et al. (2012). Serum ceramides increase the risk of Alzheimer disease: the Women's Health and Aging Study II. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318264e380
Vancouver
Mielke MM, Bandaru VV, Haughey NJ, Xia J, Fried LP, Yasar S, et al. Serum ceramides increase the risk of Alzheimer disease: the Women's Health and Aging Study II. Neurology. 2012. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e318264e380. PMID: 22815558.
BibTeX
@article{mielke2012-22815558,
author = {Mielke, M. M. and Bandaru, V. V. and Haughey, N. J. and Xia, J. and Fried, L. P. and Yasar, S. and Albert, M. and Varma, V. and others},
title = {{Serum ceramides increase the risk of Alzheimer disease: the Women's Health and Aging Study II}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e318264e380},
pmid = {22815558},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318264e380}
}
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