Age- and sex-dependent changes of resting amygdalar activity in individuals free of clinical cardiovascular disease
Ahmed Haider, Susan Bengs, Flavia Diggelmann, Gioia Epprecht, Dominik Etter, Anna Luisa Beeler, Winandus J. Wijnen, Valérie Treyer, Angela Portmann, Geoffrey Warnock, Muriel Grämer, Atanas Todorov, Tobias A. Fuchs, Aju P. Pazhenkottil, Ronny R. Buechel, Felix C. Tanner, Philipp A. Kaufmann, Cathérine Gebhard, Michael Fiechter
Abstract
PURPOSE: Amygdalar metabolic activity was shown to independently predict cardiovascular outcomes. However, little is known about age- and sex-dependent variability in neuronal stress responses among individuals free of cardiac disease. This study sought to assess age- and sex-specific differences of resting amygdalar metabolic activity in the absence of clinical cardiovascular disease. METHODS: F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography and echocardiography for the evaluation of cardiac function. RESULTS: F-FDG amygdalar activity significantly decreased with age in men (r = - 0.278, P = 0.001), but not in women (r = 0.002, P = 0.983). Similarly, dichotomous analysis confirmed a lower amygdalar activity in men ≥ 50 years as compared to those < 50 years of age (0.79 ± 0.1 vs. 0.84 ± 0.1, P = 0.007), which was not observed in women (0.81 ± 0.1 vs. 0.82 ± 0.1, P = 0.549). Accordingly, a fully adjusted linear regression analysis identified age as an independent predictor of amygdalar activity only in men (B-coefficient - 0.278, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Amygdalar activity decreases with age in men, but not in women. The use of amygdalar activity for cardiovascular risk stratification merits consideration of inherent age- and sex-dependent variability.