Data from: Sex-specific relationship of cardiometabolic syndrome with lower cortical thickness

Objective: We investigated whether cardiometabolic factors were associated
with age-related differences in cortical thickness in relation to sex.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 1322 cognitively
normal elderly (≥ 65 years old) individuals (774 (58.5%) men, 548 (41.5%)
women). Cortical thickness was measured using a surface-based analysis. We
analyzed the associations of cardiometabolic risk factors with cortical
thickness using multivariate linear regression models after adjusting for
possible confounders and interactions with age. Result: Among women,
hypertension (HTN) (β = -1.119 to -0.024, p <0.05) and diabetes
mellitus (DM) (β = -0.920, p = 0.03) were independently associated with
lower mean cortical thickness. In addition, there was an interaction
effect between obesity (BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m2) and age on cortical thickness in
women (β = -0.324 to -0.010, p < 0.05) suggesting that age-related
differences in cortical thickness were more prominent in obese women
compared to women with normal weight. Moreover, low education level
(< 6 years) was correlated with lower mean cortical thickness (β =
-0.053 to -0.046, p < 0.05). Conversely, among men, only being
underweight (BMI≤18.5 kg/m2, β = -2.656 to -0.073, p < 0.05) was
associated with lower cortical thickness. Conclusions: Our findings
suggest that cortical thickness is more vulnerable to cardiometabolic risk
factors in women than in men. Therefore, sex-specific prevention
strategies may be needed to protect against accelerated brain aging.