Total Plasma Homocysteine and Depressive Symptoms in Older Hispanics

Issue title: Translational Research and Drug Discovery for Neurodegeneration: Challenges for Latin America

Guest editors: K.S. Jagannatha Rao, Gabrielle B. Britton, Luisa Lilia Rocha Arrieta, Norberto Garcia-Cairasco, Alberto Lazarowski, Adrián Palacios, Antoni Camins Espuny and Ricardo B. Maccioni

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Castro, Fernando^a | Melgarejo, Jesús^{a; b} | Chavez, Carlos A.^a | de Erausquin, Gabriel A.^{c; d} | Terwilliger, Joseph D.^{e; f; g; h} | Lee, Joseph H.^{h; i; j} | Maestre, Gladys E.^{a; d; k; l; *}

Affiliations: [a] Laboratory of Neuroscience, Institute for Biological Research, University of Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela | [b] Research Unit Hypertension and Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium | [c] Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, and Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Antonio, TX, USA | [d] Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA | [e] Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA | [f] Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA | [g] Division of Medical Genetics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA | [h] Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA | [i] Taub Institute for Research of Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA | [j] Departments of Epidemiology and Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA | [k] Departments of Neurosciences and Human Genetics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Brownsville, TX, USA | [l] Institute for Neurosciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Harlingen, TX, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Gladys E. Maestre, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, One West University Blvd, BROBL Rm. 106, Brownsville, TX, USA. Tel.:+1 956 882 7495; Fax:+1 956 882 6834; E-mail: gladys.maestre@utrgv.edu. or E-mail: gladysmaestre@gmail.com.

Abstract: Background:Very few studies have investigated the association between total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) and depressive symptoms in older Hispanics. Objective:To test the hypothesis that high tHcy associates with depressive symptoms in older Hispanics. Methods:A total of 1,418 participants .55 years old from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) underwent standardized neurological, neuropsychiatric, and cardiovascular assessments. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Depression Subscale (NPId) was used to assess the burden of depressive symptoms. The tHcy levels and other biochemical parameters in blood samples were measured. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied. Results:Participants with depressive symptoms had higher levels of tHcy than those without (15.1 versus 13.9 µmol/L; p = 0.009). Elevated tHcy levels were associated with depressive symptoms after adjusting for age, sex, education, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, alcohol intake, stroke, and dementia (OR = 1.58; 95% CI, 1.18–2.12). Conclusion:Elevated levels of tHcy were associated with depressive symptoms in older Hispanics living under the nutritional and environmental conditions of a developing country.

Keywords: Aging, cohort studies, depressive symptoms, elderly, Hispanics, homocysteine, Latinos

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-201062

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 82, no. s1, pp. S263-S269, 2021