Associations of Physical Activity with Alzheimer’s Disease Pathologies and Cognition: The CABLE Study

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zhong, Shuang^{a; 1} | Zhao, Bing^{a; 1} | Ma, Ya-Hui^a | Sun, Yan^a | Zhao, Yong-Li^a | Liu, Wen-Hui^a | Ou, Ya-Nan^a | Dong, Qiang^b | Tan, Lan^{a; *} | Yu, Jin-Tai^{b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China | [b] Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Prof. Jin-Tai Yu, Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, 12th Wulumuqi Zhong Road, Shanghai 200040, China. Tel.: +86 21 52888160; Fax: +86 21 62483421; E-mail: jintai_yu@fudan.edu.cn and Prof. Lan Tan, Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. E-mail: dr.tanlan@163.com.

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Background:The associations of physical activity with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathologies remain controversial. Objective:To quantitatively assess the association between the frequency of physical activity with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in AD and further explore the mechanism by which AD pathologies regulate the correlation between physical activity and cognition. Methods:A total of 918 participants without dementia from Chinese Alzheimer’s Biomarker and Lifestyle (CABLE) were examined in this population-based cross-sectional study. Multiple linear models were used to evaluate the associations of physical activity with CSF biomarkers and cognition. Moreover, mediation analyses were conducted to investigate the potential relationships between physical activity, AD pathologies, and cognitive function. Results:Regular physical activity was positively associated with CSF Aβ42 (p < 0.001) and Aβ42/40 (p < 0.001), while it was negatively associated with p-tau/Aβ42 (p < 0.001) and t-tau/Aβ42 (p < 0.001). Of all participants, regular physical activity was associated with increased cognitive function (p < 0.001). The interaction effect indicated that age moderated the association between physical activity frequency and CSF Aβ42 (p = 0.014) and p-tau/Aβ42 (p = 0.041). The impact of physical activity on cognition was mediated in part by amyloid pathologies, accounting for 4.87% to 21.56% of the total effect (p < 0.05). Conclusion:This study showed the beneficial impact of physical activity on AD pathologies and cognition in participants without dementia.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, biomarkers, cerebrospinal fluid, cognition, physical activity

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-220389

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 483-492, 2022