Leptin, Adiponectin and Cognition in Middle-aged HIV-infected and Uninfected Women. The Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study.

CONTEXT: Case-control study of women with and without HIV infection.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of cognition and the adipokines, leptin and adiponectin (total; high molecular weight, HMW), in women with (HIV+) and without HIV (HIV-) infection.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses of adipokines and cognition using linear regression models of log-transformed adipokines, and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, education, CD4 count, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and race/ethnicity.

SETTING: Brooklyn, NY.

PARTICIPANTS: 354 participants (247 HIV+, 107 HIV-), in the Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), average age 38.9 years, with measured levels of leptin and adiponectin (total and high molecular weight, HMW).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Cognition.

RESULTS: Higher levels of leptin were positively associated with worse cognition on the basis of Trails A completion time and SDMT score. Among at risk HIV- women, leptin was associated with worse performance on Trails B. No associations were observed for total or HMW adiponectin.

CONCLUSION: Blood adipokine levels were measured to provide mechanistic insights regarding the association of adipose with cognitive function. These data suggest that higher levels of leptin, consistent with more adipose tissue, are associated with worse cognitive function in middle age. Monitoring leptin over time and with increasing age in relation to cognition and dementia, may lend insights to the role of adipose tissue in successful body and brain aging among women with HIV infection.