Abstract 67: Observed And Genomic Life’S Simple 7 Influence Brain Health-related Neuroimaging Traits In Persons Without Stroke Or Dementia

Background: The AHA Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) promote cardiovascular health. We hypothesized that a better LS7 profile translates into significant brain health benefits in persons without stroke or dementia. We also evaluated whether genomic information can effectively recapitulate the observed LS7. Methods: We conducted a nested study within the UK Biobank, restricting analysis to stroke- and dementia-free participants with brain MRI and genomic data. We ascertained the LS7 (blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, HbA1c, smoking, exercise, diet and BMI) clinically and genomically. For the latter, we used genetic variants known to influence each trait. The total LS7 score ranges from 0 (poor) to 14 (optimal), and was categorized as poor (≤4), average (49). We tested for association between observed/genomic LS7 and two neuroimaging markers of brain health: white matter hyperintensities (WMH) volume and brain volume. Results: We analyzed 35,914 participants. For WMH, compared to persons with poor observed LS7, those with average and optimal had 18% (beta -0.17; se=0.02; p0.05). Blood pressure and HbA1c were the most powerful contributors to WMH and brain volume, respectively (Figure). Conclusions: Better LS7 profiles are associated with better profiles of 2 brain health-related neuroimaging markers in persons without stroke/dementia. Genomic information appropriately recapitulated one of these associations. These results emphasize the beneficial role of cardiovascular health optimization in persons without stroke/dementia and point to genomic data as potentially useful to identify high risk individuals.