INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 06 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 04:00 pm - 05:15 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 06: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2 Final Abstract #84 Impact of Diabetes on Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis Sanghamithra Ramani, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada Tamanna Islam, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Jordan Pumphrey, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Jason Berard, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Matthew Seegobin, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Mai Buckle, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada Jing Wang, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, and University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Jennifer Lymer, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada Mark Freedman, University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada Lisa Walker, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Category: Multiple Sclerosis/ALS/Demyelinating Disorders Keyword 1: cognitive functioning Keyword 2: diabetes Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease. The inflammatory pathways involved in MS are increasingly considered to be metabolic in nature, implying potentially increased interaction with other metabolic disorders. Diabetes, another metabolic disease, has been found to worsen the clinical outcomes of MS. Cognitive impairment is common in MS, affecting ~40-70% of individuals. Diabetes can also be associated with cognitive dysfunction given cerebrovascular involvement. Cognitive dysfunction can negatively impact individuals’ quality of life. Understanding the potential impact of modifiable risk factors associated with cognitive decline can help tailor rehabilitation. Additionally, vascular co-morbidities in those with MS, such as diabetes, are on the rise. To our knowledge, only one prior study determined that diabetes was associated with lower visual learning and memory in individuals with MS when compared to those with MS alone. The objective of the current study is to evaluate if diabetes increases the risk of impairment in these and other cognitive domains. Participants and Methods: Data was collected from 10 people with MS and no diabetes (MSND), 21 people with MS and diabetes (MSDM), and 21 matched healthy controls. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and the BICAMS (Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS) battery, including measures of verbal learning and memory, visual learning and memory, and information processing speed. Participants were also asked to complete self-report questionnaires evaluating mood and fatigue. Results: When accounting for age and education, the MSDM group performed significantly worse than controls on tests assessing information processing speed (F(1, 38) = 4.925, p = 0.033), verbal memory (F(1, 38) = 4.593, p = .039), visual learning (F(1, 38) = 7.066, p = .011), and visual memory (F(1, 38) = 4.771, p = .035). The MSDM group also reported worse mood (F(1, 38) = 4.649, p = .037), and higher fatigue F(1, 38) = 20.777, p = <.001. For the MSND and control groups, there were no significant differences in information processing speed, verbal memory, or visual learning. However, the MSND group had a significantly lower mood (t(10.93) = -2.373, p = .037), higher fatigue (t(11.25) = -3.634, p = .004), and poorer visual memory (t(10.514) = 2.215, p = .050) compared to the control groups. No significant group differences were found between the MSND and MSMD groups (p >.05) when controlling for age. Conclusions: As expected, the MSDM and MSND groups performed worse than healthy controls in several cognitive domains, with the MSDM group showing more group differences in cognition than the MSND group. Nonetheless, when comparing the two MS groups, there were no group differences. This could suggest that the additional contribution of diabetes to cognitive dysfunction over and above MS is quite subtle and the lack of significant group differences between the two MS groups may be due to insufficient power to detect this. These preliminary findings suggest that larger studies are warranted. Such studies should involve neuroimaging to document the disease burden of both MS pathology and cerebrovascular burden to allow investigation of their relative contributions to observed cognitive impairment.

Poster

02/15/2024
04:00 pm - 05:15 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 06: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2

Final Abstract #84

Impact of Diabetes on Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis

Sanghamithra Ramani, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada
Tamanna Islam, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
Jordan Pumphrey, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
Jason Berard, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
Matthew Seegobin, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
Mai Buckle, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Jing Wang, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, and University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
Jennifer Lymer, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Mark Freedman, University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Lisa Walker, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada

Category: Multiple Sclerosis/ALS/Demyelinating Disorders

Keyword 1: cognitive functioning
Keyword 2: diabetes

Objective:

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease. The inflammatory pathways involved in MS are increasingly considered to be metabolic in nature, implying potentially increased interaction with other metabolic disorders. Diabetes, another metabolic disease, has been found to worsen the clinical outcomes of MS. Cognitive impairment is common in MS, affecting ~40-70% of individuals. Diabetes can also be associated with cognitive dysfunction given cerebrovascular involvement. Cognitive dysfunction can negatively impact individuals’ quality of life. Understanding the potential impact of modifiable risk factors associated with cognitive decline can help tailor rehabilitation. Additionally, vascular co-morbidities in those with MS, such as diabetes, are on the rise. To our knowledge, only one prior study determined that diabetes was associated with lower visual learning and memory in individuals with MS when compared to those with MS alone. The objective of the current study is to evaluate if diabetes increases the risk of impairment in these and other cognitive domains.

Participants and Methods:

Data was collected from 10 people with MS and no diabetes (MSND), 21 people with MS and diabetes (MSDM), and 21 matched healthy controls. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and the BICAMS (Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS) battery, including measures of verbal learning and memory, visual learning and memory, and information processing speed. Participants were also asked to complete self-report questionnaires evaluating mood and fatigue.

Results:

When accounting for age and education, the MSDM group performed significantly worse than controls on tests assessing information processing speed (F(1, 38) = 4.925, p = 0.033), verbal memory (F(1, 38) = 4.593, p = .039), visual learning (F(1, 38) = 7.066, p = .011), and visual memory (F(1, 38) = 4.771, p = .035). The MSDM group also reported worse mood (F(1, 38) = 4.649, p = .037), and higher fatigue F(1, 38) = 20.777, p = <.001. For the MSND and control groups, there were no significant differences in information processing speed, verbal memory, or visual learning. However, the MSND group had a significantly lower mood (t(10.93) = -2.373, p = .037), higher fatigue (t(11.25) = -3.634, p = .004), and poorer visual memory (t(10.514) = 2.215, p = .050) compared to the control groups. No significant group differences were found between the MSND and MSMD groups (p >.05) when controlling for age.

Conclusions:

As expected, the MSDM and MSND groups performed worse than healthy controls in several cognitive domains, with the MSDM group showing more group differences in cognition than the MSND group. Nonetheless, when comparing the two MS groups, there were no group differences. This could suggest that the additional contribution of diabetes to cognitive dysfunction over and above MS is quite subtle and the lack of significant group differences between the two MS groups may be due to insufficient power to detect this. These preliminary findings suggest that larger studies are warranted. Such studies should involve neuroimaging to document the disease burden of both MS pathology and cerebrovascular burden to allow investigation of their relative contributions to observed cognitive impairment.