Cited by 536Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchAging and Gerontology ResearchCancer-related cognitive impairment studies

Interleukin-6 and risk of cognitive decline: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging

Weaver, J. D., Huang, M.-H., Albert, M., Harris, T., Rowe, J. W., Seeman, T. E.·2002·Neurology

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) is cross-sectionally related to poorer cognitive function and whether a baseline plasma IL-6 measurement can predict risk for decline in cognitive function in longitudinal follow-up of a population-based sample of nondisabled elderly people. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 779 high-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 from the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging was conducted. Regression modeling was used to investigate whether baseline IL-6 levels (classified by tertiles) were associated with initial cognitive function and whether IL-6 levels predicted subsequent declines in cognitive function from 1988 to 1991 (2.5-year follow-up) and from 1988 to 1995 (7-year follow-up). RESULTS: Subjects in the highest tertile for plasma IL-6 were marginally more likely to exhibit poorer baseline cognitive function (i.e., scores below the median), independent of demographic status, social status, health and health behaviors, and other physiologic variables (odds ratio [OR] = 1.46; 95% CI: 0.97, 2.20). At 2.5 years, those in both the second tertile of IL-6 (OR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.44, 3.42) and the third tertile (OR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.30, 3.19) were at increased risk of cognitive decline even after adjusting for all confounders. At 7 years of follow-up, only those in the highest IL-6 tertile were significantly more likely to exhibit declines in cognition (OR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.14, 3.18) after adjustment for all confounders. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a relationship between elevated baseline plasma IL-6 and risk for subsequent decline in cognitive function. These findings are consistent with the hypothesized relationship between brain inflammation, as measured here by elevated plasma IL-6, and neuropathologic disorders.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1212/wnl.59.3.371

Cites

24 of 24 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Increased IL-6 levels correlate more closely with NFT burden in AD patients rather than neuritic plaques, as well as with age-related cognitive decline in humans.

    “increased IL-6 levels have been shown to correlate more closely with NFT burden in AD patients rather than neuritic plaques [155] as well as age-related cognitive decline in humans [156].”

    From Glial contributions to neurodegeneration in tauopathies (2017) · cites this paper as [156]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Weaver, J. D., Huang, M.-H., Albert, M., Harris, T., Rowe, J. W., & Seeman, T. E.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
Neurology
Published
2002-08-13
Volume
59
Issue
3
Pages
371-378
ISSN
  • 0028-3878 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-632X
OpenAlex
W2004349651
Cited by
536
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 19
FWCI
8.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neurology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • University of Vermont
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01ag017056-03)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG17265, P30AG017265, AG 17056)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Cancer-related cognitive impairment studies
Keywords
interleukin-6, cognitive decline, plasma cytokines, neuroinflammation, cognitive function, older adults, successful aging, neurodegenerative disease risk
MeSH terms
Aged, Aging, Analysis of Variance, Cognition Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Risk Factors, Cohort Studies, Interleukin-6, Multivariate Analysis, Confidence Intervals, Linear Models, Odds Ratio

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review