Low blood pressure shows strongest heart-related link to Alzheimer’s in biobank study
Researchers found subtype-specific ties between cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s, with hypotension showing the most consistent association.
By Priya Raghavan · Science Reporter
3 min read
A large biobank analysis has found that several cardiovascular disease subtypes are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, with low blood pressure showing the strongest and most consistent link. The findings could sharpen research into how vascular and heart-related conditions overlap with Alzheimer’s risk, according to a study published June 10 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Aili Toyli of Michigan Technological University in Houghton and colleagues studied associations between Alzheimer’s disease and 11 cardiovascular disease subtypes. The researchers used data from two major cohorts: 502,133 participants in the U.K. Biobank and 287,011 participants in the All of Us Research Program.
The study reported that most of the cardiovascular disease subtypes examined were significantly associated with Alzheimer’s disease in both cohorts. Among those findings, hypotension stood out as the most consistent association, the researchers said.
Hypotension, or low blood pressure, has received less attention in Alzheimer’s research than high blood pressure, according to Toyli. “Compared to hypertension, hypotension receives a lot less attention overall, which likely leads to less data and less research focus,” Toyli said in a statement.
The researchers also found consistent associations between Alzheimer’s disease and hypertension, as well as cerebral infarction. Hypertension is high blood pressure, while cerebral infarction refers to brain tissue damage caused by interrupted blood flow.
The study did not find a significant association between acute myocardial infarction and Alzheimer’s disease. Acute myocardial infarction is commonly known as a heart attack.
Genetic analysis in the study pointed to shared loci between traits related to Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease. The researchers reported that these shared regions appeared especially near APOE, MAPT and genes tied to myocardial structure and vascular function.
APOE and MAPT are already prominent in neurological research, and the study’s findings add cardiovascular signals to the broader picture of Alzheimer’s-related biology. The researchers described the results as subtype-specific, meaning different cardiovascular conditions did not show the same relationship with Alzheimer’s disease.
Toyli said more detailed work is needed to identify the biological mechanisms behind the observed links. “Detailed research is needed to understand the biological mechanisms that might be behind the links between [AD] and CVD,” Toyli said. “Once we determine the specific pathway that connects them, we may be able to intervene and break the chain before [AD] develops.”
The study, titled “Cardiovascular Disease Subtypes and Alzheimer’s Disease: Phenotypic and Genetic Associations in the UK Biobank and All of Us Research Program,” was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The findings show associations across large datasets, but the study as described does not establish that any cardiovascular condition causes Alzheimer’s disease.
This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.