Hypertension acts together with Aβ pathology in late-life to promote memory loss
Midlife hypertension (HTN) contributes to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the exact effect of late-life HTN on the AD pathology and on cognitive decline is still controversial. Here, we aimed to assess the impact of HTN and AD pathology in cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals over 65 years of age on longitudinal cognitive decline. We evaluated 637 CU individuals from two independent cohorts (475 CU individuals from the ADNI cohort; and 162 CU individuals from the TRIAD cohort), with a follow-up of up to 6 years. Linear mixed-effects models showed that HTN and Aβ acted together to promote longitudinal cognitive decline, especially memory loss, in a synergistic way, with a dose-dependent association of blood pressure and Aβ pathology. Hence, HTN in late-life confers additional risk for cognitive decline, particularly for memory loss, in CU individuals at risk of developing dementia due to AD and is a potential modifiable risk factor even at older age.
Authors
- Mira Chamoun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7001-5652)
- Douglas Teixeira Leffa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4890-8451)
- Marco Antônio De Bastiani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-5278)
- L U Da Ros
- Firoza Z. Lussier
- Bruna Bellaver
- Gleb Bezgin
- Pedro Rosa-Neto
- Guilherme Povala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2023-6569)
- Henrik Zetterberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3930-4354)
- Kaj Blennow
- Eduardo R. Zimmer
- Tharick A. Pascoal
- Wyllians Vendramini Borelli
- Diogo O. Souza
- Arthur C. Macedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3957-0284)
- Lucas A. Hauschild (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5254-323X)
- Pamela C.L. Ferreira
- João Pedro Ferrari-Souza
- Nicholas Ashton
- Nesrine Rahmouni
- Andrea L. Benedet
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SE)
- McGill University Health Centre (CA)
- Banner Health (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Hospital Moinhos de Vento (BR)
- Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (BR)
- Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital (FR)
- Banner Sun Health Research Institute (US)
- Institut du Cerveau (FR)
- University College London (GB)
- McGill University (CA)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer s Disease
- Published
- 2026-05-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2026.100579
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico