Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2026 Apr;50(4):e70278. doi: 10.1111/acer.70278.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with increased risks of some neuropsychiatric conditions and early-onset dementia. However, the association between Alzheimer disease (AD) and AUD is poorly characterized. To address this, we studied associations between AUD, cognition, and measures of AD neuropathology.
METHODS: We measured a lifetime history of AUD, cognitive decline, and blood biomarkers for AD in middle-aged and older participants (47-87 years) from the St. Louis site of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) (N = 392). Cognitive decline was measured using the Eight-item Informant Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia (AD8) (N = 366); 154 individuals had AD biomarkers derived from plasma measurements (Amyloid Probability Score 2, Aβ42/Aβ40, and %p-tau217). We used Poisson regression models to evaluate the relationship between AUD, age, and cognitive decline. AUD was categorized as no AUD, mild AUD, or moderate-to-severe AUD, and age was modeled as a piecewise linear variable segmented by decade. Linear regressions were used to assess the association between AD blood biomarkers and AUD.
RESULTS: Analyses revealed a significant association between moderate-to-severe AUD and increased cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults (RR = 1.4, p < 0.001). While a greater proportion of participants with moderate-to-severe AUD met the Aβ42/Aβ40 threshold for predicting elevated brain amyloid compared to those with mild or no AUD, consistent with our hypothesis, this trend did not achieve statistical significance.
CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the importance of addressing AUD as a potentially modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline in middle aged and older adults. Further study is needed to understand the link between AUD and AD biomarkers.
PMID:41941099 | DOI:10.1111/acer.70278
