Association between renal function and memory-related disease: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Previous studies have reported that renal function is associated brain structure and cognitive dysfunction. However, the association between renal function and memory-related disease was not well characterized. Altogether, 5,282 individuals were included in this study based on China Longitudinal Study of Health and Retirement. Four estimated glomerular filtration rate indicators (eGFR), including CG, CKD-EPIscr, CKD-EPIscr-cys, and CKD-EPIcys were used to evaluate the association between renal function and memory-related disease. The multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) of the memory-related disease in the low eGFR group (eGFR < 90 mL/min/1.73m²) were 1.56 (1.13–2.16) for CG, 1.56 (1.19–2.06) for CKD-EPIscr, 1.45 (1.06–1.99) for CKD-EPIscr-cys and 1.27 (0.91–1.77) for CKD-EPIcys, respectively. Similarly, each SD increase of eGFR was associated with reduced risk of memory-related disease on continuous analyses. Subgroup analyses further confirmed these associations. Moreover, the addition of eGFR to conventional risk factors improved the predictive power for memory-related disease (net reclassification improvement: 13.90% for CG, 19.83% for CKD-EPIscr and 30.65% for CKD-EPIscr-cys). In conclusion, impaired renal function was associated with the increasing risk of memory-related disease, indicating that renal function may be a potential indicator for memory-related disease. Further studies from other races and populations are needed to replicate our findings and to clarify the potential mechanisms.