Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations of Neighborhood Disadvantage With Fluid Biomarkers of Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Living in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood has an adverse impact on health outcomes, including increased risk of Alzheimer disease (AD). The biological mechanisms underlying this risk are poorly understood. We sought to examine how neighborhood disadvantage relates to core AD pathology, neurodegeneration, and inflammatory biomarkers in community-dwelling older adults cross-sectionally and over time. METHODS: ratio, CSF tau, CSF phosphorylated tau (ptau), plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), and plasma and CSF neurofilament light chain. RESULTS: = 0.03). DISCUSSION: Greater neighborhood disadvantage was associated with elevated inflammatory and AD CSF biomarkers cross-sectionally and longitudinal increases in a nonspecific inflammatory blood biomarker. Findings suggest that neighborhood disadvantage confers risk of systemic inflammation and AD pathology, providing a possible sociobiological mechanism underlying health disparities in aging adults; however, results were limited by use of ADI at study entry.