• Esmé Jansen van Vuren, Leoné Malan, Roland von Känel, Martin Magnusson, Leandi Lammertyn, and Nicolaas T Malan.
• Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
• Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 2019 Jul 1; 49 (7): e13116.

BackgroundBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) modulates brain health and cognition, which can interfere with executive cognitive function. BDNF was implicated with microcirculatory ischaemia and may reflect cardiomyocyte injury. We aimed to determine whether prospective changes (%Δ) in BDNF and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) will be associated with executive cognitive function in a bi-ethnic cohort.DesignA prospective investigation was conducted over a three-year period in a bi-ethnic sex cohort (N = 338; aged 20-65 years) from South Africa. Fasting serum samples for BDNF and cTnT were obtained. The STROOP-color-word conflict test (CWT) was applied to assess executive cognitive function at baseline.ResultsIn Blacks, BDNF (P < 0.001) increased over the three-year period while cTnT did not change. In contrast, in Whites, BDNF and cTnT decreased over three years. In Black men, no change in cTnT was associated with increased ΔBDNF (β = 0.25; 95% CI 0.05-0.45; P = 0.02). In the Black men, constant cTnT levels were inversely associated with executive cognitive function (β = -0.33; 95% CI -0.53 to -0.12; P = 0.003). Three-year increases in BDNF increased the likelihood for chronic lower cTnT levels at a pre-established cut-point of <4.2 ng/L [OR = 2.35 (1.12-4.94), P = 0.02]. The above associations were not found in the White sex groups.ConclusionsCentral neural control mechanisms may have upregulated BDNF in Black men as a way to protect against myocardial stress progression and to possibly improve processes related to cognitive interference control. High-sensitive cTnT levels may act as an early predictor of disturbed neural control mechanisms.© 2019 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

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