Pulse Pressure Magnifies the Effect of COMT Val(158)Met on 15 Years Episodic Memory Trajectories.

ABSTRACT: We investigated whether a physiological marker of cardiovascular health, pulse pressure (PP), and age magnified the effect of the functional COMT Val(158)Met (rs4680) polymorphism on 15-years cognitive trajectories [episodic memory (EM), visuospatial ability, and semantic memory] using data from 1585 non-demented adults from the Betula study. A multiple-group latent growth curve model was specified to gauge individual differences in change, and average trends therein. The allelic variants showed negligible differences across the cognitive markers in average trends. The older portion of the sample selectively age-magnified the effects of Val(158)Met on EM changes, resulting in greater decline in Val compared to homozygote Met carriers. This effect was attenuated by statistical control for P

SUBMITTER: Persson N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4773588 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature