Introduction:Resting heart rate (RHR) predicts future risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, longitudinal studies investigating the relationship of RHR with cognitive decline are scarce. Methods: This population-based cohort study included 2147 participants (age≥60) in SNAC-K who were free of dementia and regularly followed from 2001-2004 to 2013-2016. RHR was assessed with electrocardiogram. Dementia was diagnosed following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Revision criteria. Global cognitive function was assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Data were analyzed using Cox and linear mixed-effects models.Results: RHR≥80 (vs. 60-69) bpm was associated with a multi-adjusted hazard ratio of 1.55 (95% confidence interval 1.06−2.27) for dementia. The association remained significant after excluding participants with prevalent and incident CVDs. Similarly, RHR≥80 bpm was associated with a multi-adjusted β-coefficient of -0.13 (-0.21 to -0.04) for MMSE score.Discussion: Higher RHR is associated with increased risk for dementia and faster cognitive decline independent of CVDs in a general population of elderly people. K E Y W O R D Scardiovascular disease, dementia, heart rate, risk factor BACKGROUNDThe global burden of dementia has increased rapidly, with 43.8 million people affected in 2016. 1 The number of people living with dementia is expected to reach 131 million by 2051, with 68% residing in low-and middle-income countries. 2 Dementia has a devastating impact on the quality of life of older adults, their families, and society at large. Currently, there is no cure for dementia, but growing evidence suggests that the onset of dementia could beThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Adiposity is more consistently associated with extent of plaque burden than with whether an individual does or does not have any plaque. There was evidence that established biomarkers mediate much of this association. Abdominal adiposity appears to show the strongest effect.

Background: Emerging evidence has linked electrocardiographic parameters with serum adhesion molecules and cognition; however, their interrelationship has not been explored. Objective: We sought to investigate the associations of ventricular depolarization and repolarization intervals with serum adhesion molecules and cognitive function among rural-dwelling older adults. Methods: This population-based study engaged 4,886 dementia-free participants (age ≥60 years, 56.2% women) in the baseline examination (March-September 2018) of MIND-China. Of these, serum intercellular and vascular adhesion molecules (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) were measured in 1591 persons. We used a neuropsychological test battery to assess cognitive function. Resting heart rate, QT, JT intervals, and QRS duration were assessed with electrocardiogram. Data were analyzed using general linear models adjusting for multiple confounders. Results: Longer JT interval was significantly associated with lower z-scores of global cognition (multivariable-adjusted β= –0.035; 95% confidence interval = –0.055, –0.015), verbal fluency (–0.035; –0.063, –0.007), attention (–0.037; –0.065, –0.010), and executive function (–0.044; –0.072, –0.015), but not with memory function (–0.023; –0.054, 0.009). There were similar association patterns of QT interval with cognitive functions. In the serum biomarker subsample, longer JT and QT intervals remained significantly associated with poorer executive function and higher serum adhesion molecules. We detected statistical interactions of JT interval with adhesion molecules (pinteraction <0.05), such that longer JT interval was significantly associated with a lower executive function z-score only among individuals with higher serum ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Conclusion: Longer ventricular depolarization and repolarization intervals are associated with worse cognitive function in older adults and vascular endothelial dysfunction may play a part in the associations.