Positive Association between Plasma Amylin and Cognition in a Homebound Elderly Population

Our recent study reported that amylin, a pancreatic peptide that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, improves learning and memory in Alzheimer's disease mouse models. However, the relationship between peripheral amylin and cognition in humans is unknown. In this follow-up study, using a cross-sectional, homebound elderly population, improvement in cognitive function with increasing quartiles of plasma amylin was suggested by positive association with verbal memory (p = 0.0002) and visuoconstruction tasks (p = 0.004), and inverse association with timed measures of attention (p < 0.0001) and executive function (p = 0.04). After adjusting for demographic information, apolipoprotein E4 allele, diabetes, stroke, kidney function, and lipid profile, log(10) of plasma amylin remained associated with these cognitive domains. In contrast, plasma amyloid-beta peptide was not associated with these specific cognitive domains. Our study suggests that peripheral amylin may be protective for cognitive decline, especially in the domains affected by Alzheimer's disease.