HAI Book 2025 - Flipbook - Page 165
Gills, Joshua
25
Sex-specific associations of BMI, amyloid, and regional tau
deposition in community-dwelling cognitively normal older adults
Joshua Gills1, Oliver Cesar1, Joanna Dominguez1, Anamarie Sogade1, Laurel Browne1, Elizabeth
Weisgerber1, Julian McBride1, Elena Valkanova2, Alfred Mbah2, Luisa Figueredo1, Girardin
Jean-Louis3, Arjun Masurkar1, Ricardo Osorio1, Omonigho Michael Bubu1
1
New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City, NY, US
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, US
3
Miami University Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, US
2
Introduction: Increased body mass index (BMI) in mid-life is associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer9s disease
(AD). Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), comprised of hyperphosphorylated aggregated tau protein, are the
pathological hallmark of neurodegenerative tauopathies including Alzheimer9s Disease (AD). The relationship
between sex-dependent adiposity in late adulthood and tau NFT pathology remain inconclusive. We examined sex
differences between BMI and PET tau pathology among cognitively normal individuals.
Methods: This cross-sectional analysis consisted of 104 community-dwelling cognitively normal older adults
(mean±SD; males (n=42): age=72.8±6.5y; females (n=62): age=72.6±6.8y) from ongoing NYU longitudinal studies on
memory and aging. Subjects completed clinical assessments and two PET scans (FBB and 18F- PI2620). Standard
uptake value ratio (SUVR) values from images were computed using FreeSurfer, and normalizing to cerebellar grey
matter. For tau, data were analyzed from composite regions corresponding to Braak pathological stages I3VI, and
control brain regions not expected to contain NFTs including the pericalcarine cortex, corpus callosum, and
caudate nucleus. Linear mixed effects regression models examined association between BMI, sex, BMI*sex, PET
SUVR amyloid & tau. Models were adjusted for age, race, and ApoE status.
Results: Relative to females, males were on average slightly more educated (males, females; 17.0±2.4y, 16.6±2.1y),
had similar BMI (29.6±10.3 kg/m2, 29.5±10.8 kg/m2), and had higher blood pressure (Systolic/diastolic; 168.4/116.3
mmHg, 156.9/100.7 mmHg). Sex and BMI were each associated with both SUVR amyloid and tau (p
