Poster Presentations

Session Title: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) including Non-Cognitive Aspects
Presentation Date: Friday, March 14 – Saturday, March 15, 2009

THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON BLOOD BIO-MARKERS RELATED TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

B. Brown1, J. Peiffer1, K. Taddei1, J. Lui1, T. Taddei1, V. Ward1, M. Rodrigues1, M. Rimajova1, J. Foster1, K. Ellis2, C. Masters3, D. Ames2, P. Hudson4, C. Rowe5, R. Martins1
1Edith Cowan University, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Science, Perth, Australia, 2Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, 3University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 4CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia, 5Austin Health, Department of Medicine, Melbourne, Australia


The measurement of physical activity can be a valuable tool to assess the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies examining physical activity and AD to date have used questionnaires to determine physical activity levels. Accelerometers can reliably quantify movement, and may provide complementary information on the association between physical activity and AD. As a component of the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) flagship study, we compared physical activity levels, measured by both questionnaire and accelerometer, with blood bio-markers that have been reliably associated with the risk of AD. Activity data were obtained through International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) from 357 healthy male and female volunteers without memory disorders. In addition, physical activity was calculated using a 7-d accelerometer (Actigraph; ACT) measurement on a subgroup of 80 volunteers. Spearman ranked order correlations were used to calculate the association between:

  1. both types of activity measures and
  2. blood bio-markers (homocysteine, insulin, glucose and cholesterol), each of which is known to be associated with the risk of AD.
A significant negative correlation was observed between IPAQ data and fasting levels of triglycerides (r= -0.18) and insulin (r= -0.20). Additionally, when divided into quartiles, IPAQ data displayed a significant negative correlation (r= -.08) with plasma levels of the 42 amino acid form of β-amyloid peptide that is believed to be a causative agent of AD. There was no significant correlation observed between ACT data and any blood bio-marker. These findings indicate that physical activity may contribute to a decreased risk of AD.


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