Abstract
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) represents the most common type of dementia and is becoming a steadily increasing challenge for health systems globally. Inflammation is developing as the main focus of research into Alzheimer’s disease and has been demonstrated to be a major driver of the pathologies associated with AD. This evidence introduces an interesting research question, whether chronic inflammation due to pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) could lead to a higher risk of developing dementia. In both IBD and RA, increased levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP) can be highlighted, the latter being directly implicated in neuroinflammation and AD. In this meta-analysis both the association between chronic inflammatory diseases and elevated levels of CRP during midlife were investigated to examine if they correlated with an augmented risk of dementia. Moreover, the association between increased CRP and modifications in the permeability of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) in the presence of CRP is explored. The results displayed that the odds ratio for IBD and dementia was 1.91 [1.15-3.15], for RA it was 1.90 [1.09-3.32] following sensitivity analysis and for CRP it was 1.62 [1.22-2.15]. These results demonstrate a higher risk of dementia in patients presenting chronic inflammation and that exists an independent association with high CRP in midlife. This paper builds on published research that suggest a critical role for CRP both in stroke and AD and provides an analysis on currently published research on multiple diseases (IBD and RA) in which CRP is raised as well as chronically elevated. CRP and the associated risk of dementia and further research indicated that the monomeric form of CRP can infiltrate the BBB/be released from damaged micro-vessels to access the brain. This meta-analysis provides first-time evidence that chronic elevation of CRP in autoimmune diseases is directly associated with an increased risk of later development of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, greater priority should be provided to the effective control of inflammation in patients with chronic inflammatory or autoimmune conditions and further long-term assessment of circulating CRP might inform of an individual’s relative risk of developing dementia.
Introduction
Worldwide, dementia represents one of the most prominent health crises accounting for 50 million patients suffering from the disease, with an additional 10 million being diagnosed each year with around 115 million estimated to be affected by 2050. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) constitutes 60-70% of the total cases (). AD is characterised by the formation of amyloid beta plaque and intercellular neurofibrillary tangles () and diagnosis relies on neuroimaging and biomarkers.
Chronic inflammatory diseases represent a steadily increasing challenge for health systems globally, with inflammation playing a key-role in the vast majority of chronic pathologies. The two chronic inflammatory diseases examined in this work are Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). IBD is defined as a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract): Other chronic immune disease including Giant Cell arteritis (GCA) and Ankylosing Spondylitis and Lupus, were not included since there is insufficient literature or clinical studies available to conduct meta or systemic analysis. CD can affect any of its segments whereas UC only affects the large intestine (). RA is an autoimmune disease responsible for articular pain, swelling and stiffness; risk factors include family history and female gender (). Both IBD and RA can be characterised by chronically raised levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) which is a widely used biomarker of inflammation. CRP is a pentameric protein synthesised in the liver in response to interleukin-6 and plays a pivotal function in the inflammatory response (). In addition, it is currently acknowledged that irreversible dissociation of this molecule into monomers is accompanied by its biological activation, and stimulation of inflammatory processes including potentially neurodegeneration ().
In our attempts to comprehend this complex disease we noted that inflammation has been extensively reported as a key-factor in the development of dementia. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether there might be an association between chronic inflammation, defined by measurement of circulating CRP in chronic inflammatory diseases, and a higher risk of developing dementia or cognitive decline.
Methods
Search strategy-linking chronic inflammatory diseases with dementia
Our research was performed in PubMed and Web of Science including the search terms ‘Inflammatory Bowel disease’, ‘IBD’, ‘Rheumatoid Arthritis’, ‘RA’, ‘mild cognitive impairment’, ‘MCI’, ‘cognitive impairment’, ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’, ‘AD’, ‘dementia’, ‘C-reactive protein’, ‘CRP’ and ‘inflammatory biomarkers’.
Studies investigating the association between inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive impairment were included. Longitudinal population-based studies and studies comparing chronic inflammatory disease patients with either IBD or RA with healthy controls (Case control studies) were comprised. All articles have been formulated in English language and have required accessibility to mine the data.
CRP and dementia
Studies that examined the association between raised levels of serum CRP during an individual’s life and the incidence of dementia, AD or cognitive impairment (identified through clinical diagnosis or cognitive testing) were encompassed. Longitudinal population- based studies and studies comparing participants with elevated CRP levels were evaluated. Other inclusion criteria were represented by papers elaboration exclusively in English language and required accessibility for data mining.
Study selection
Figure 1 shows the method by which studies were selected for meta-analysis for IBD/RA association with risk of dementia (–).
Figure 1
Figure 2 shows the method of study selection for the meta-analysis investigating the relationship between midlife elevated CRP and the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment (–).
Figure 2
Data collection
From each paper the author, title, and date of publication was recorded and subsequently the odds ratio, the standard deviation and number of participants were extracted.
Meta-analysis
Two meta-analyses were performed, one exploring the association between chronic inflammatory diseases (IBD and RA) and dementia and another examining the link between serum CRP and dementia. The research papers included in Figures 1, 2, formed the basis of the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted imputing inverse variance data and was performed with random effects and a 95% CL. Both forest plots and funnel plots were produced. All analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4.1.
Results
Inflammatory bowel disease and dementia
Figure 3 shows an odds ratio of 1.91 [1.15-3.15] for the association between IBD and dementia and cognitive impairment meaning dementia is 1.91 times more prevalent in patients with IBD. The heterogeneity was I2 = 88%. The test for overall effect presented [Z=2.52, P=0.01] meaning the result was statistically significant and the null hypothesis can be rejected. Subsequent sensitivity analysis found that if the study by Zingel et al. () was given no weight in the meta-analysis the I2 went down to 0%. Because of high heterogeneity a sensitivity analysis was conducted which found that when Zingel et al. () was removed, I2 was reduced to 0% with an odds ratio of 2.44 [1.91-3.12] and a test for overall effect [Z=7.16, P=0.00001].
Figure 3
Rheumatoid arthritis and dementia
Figure 4 shows an odds ratio of 1.64 [0.92-2.93] for the association between RA and dementia/cognitive impairment, meaning dementia is 1.64 times more prevalent in patients with RA. The heterogeneity was I2 = 97%. The test for overall effect was [Z=1.67, P=0.09] meaning the result is not statistically significant so the null hypothesis cannot be rejected.
Figure 4

Forest plot showing the results of meta-analysis investigating the relationship between RA and risk of dementia. Positive odds ratio values indicate that dementia is more prevalent in rheumatoid arthritis patients, with the P value showing its statistical significance. (
Figure 5 showing the sensitivity analysis of the RA meta-analysis excluding the study by Park et al. (
Figure 5

shows a sensitivity analysis of the association between RA and dementia but with an outlier (Park et al,2021) giving 0% weight.
C-reactive protein and dementia
Figure 6 shows an odds ratio of 1.62 [1.22-2.15] for the association between high serum CRP in midlife and development of dementia, meaning dementia is 1.62 times more prevalent in patients with midlife elevated serum CRP. There is a I2 of 70% and [Z=3.34, P=0.0008] indicating that the results are highly significant so the null hypothesis can be rejected.
Figure 6

Forest plot showing the results of a meta-analysis investigating the relationship between midlife raised CRP serum levels and dementia. A positive odds ratio value indicates that dementia is more prevalent in participants who have had raised serum CRP and the P value shows its statistical significance (
Because of a high heterogenicity, a subsequent sensitivity analysis was performed which found that, when Engelhart et al. (
Discussion
The meta-analysis performed on IBD and dementia highlighted an increased risk of developing dementia in patients with IBD and this was found to be statistically significant. However, there was a high I2 which suggested there was significant heterogeneity: subsequent sensitivity analysis detected that if the study by Zingel et al. (
Nevertheless, augmented CRP levels cannot be universally regarded as a direct reflection of RA disease activity, given the considerable patient population who are subject to flares but displays CRP levels in the normal ranges (
In respect of IBD, Liu et al. (
It is broadly acknowledged that patients undergoing corticosteroids treatment present an increased risk to develop mental disturbances (
The meta-analysis investigating levels of CRP and rates of dementia displayed that the risk of developing dementia was statistically significantly higher with elevated serum levels of CRP. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis by Long et al. (
Other studies have also indicated that chronic inflammation can cause brain damage, including one study that followed 1,500 participants for over 21 years monitoring the CRP levels regularly. At the final appointment each patient underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which highlighted how the 90 participants, identified as having chronic inflammation, also had the most extended damage in cerebral white matter. This points towards a role of chronic inflammation in cerebral health (
In the context of chronic inflammatory diseases, the arising dilemma concerns the dynamics related to the penetration of the BBB by systemic CRP, which proceeds to infiltrate the brain and potentially cause dementia. One plausible explanation was provided by Slevin et al. (
One possible criticism to the argument stating that mCRP increases vascular permeability consists in the evidence that mCRP is relatively insoluble and precipitates at the site of inflammation, therefore is not easily transported in the systemic circulation. However, studies exploring the role of mCRP in other diseases including myocardial infarction and peripheral arterial disease highlighted that mCRP can circulate by binding to cellular microparticles and leukocytes, which aid the conversion of CRP into mCRP (
At the site of inflammation, CRP can dissociate into its monomeric form which is considerably less soluble. mCRP can accumulate at sites of vascular injury and inflammation and, in the case of ischemic stroke, has been proven to be present in the infarcted tissue in notable quantities (
Further evidence that mCRP is involved in neuroinflammation and consequently AD was disclosed by a research examining the immunohistochemical staining of brain tissue samples of AD patients. The study exhibited that mCRP staining surrounded the abnormal brain tissue with a vascular disturbance and histological evidence of a strong local immune response. Similarly, mCRP staining was identifiable around leaky blood vessels and positively stained cells were localised in the abnormal tissue. Evidence of the key-role of mCRP in neuroinflammation in AD patients was also demonstrated by its co-localization with CD68 and IL-1β (
Conclusions
This meta-analysis provides first-time evidence that chronic elevation of CRP in autoimmune diseases may be associated to an increased risk of later development of neuroinflammation and possibly dementia. Since there is now evidence suggesting that chronically raised CRP levels are associated with increased risk of dementia and also other serious disease including development of premature coronary artery disease (
So far nothing has been reported in the literature, however, recent published work has highlighted the critical importance of circulating levels of the monomeric form of CRP in relation to risk of development of carotid atherosclerotic plaques, and that this was not significantly correlated with total systemic circulating native CRP but only LDLc (
Long-term assessment of circulating CRP/mCRP can be considered as a precious tool to enable estimation of an individual’s relative risk of developing dementia. Therefore, therapeutic strategies aimed to control and minimize the inflammatory states of patients with chronic inflammatory or autoimmune conditions is of utmost importance in order to limit the progression of neurodegeneration.
Statements
Author contributions
All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Summary
Keywords
C-reactive protein, inflammatory disease, dementia, autoimmune, meta - analysis
Citation
Cooper J, Pastorello Y and Slevin M (2023) A meta-analysis investigating the relationship between inflammation in autoimmune disease, elevated CRP, and the risk of dementia. Front. Immunol. 14:1087571. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1087571
Received
17 November 2022
Accepted
16 January 2023
Published
27 January 2023
Volume
14 - 2023
Edited by
Yi Wu, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
Reviewed by
Christopher Sjöwall, Linköping University, Sweden; Kassem Sharif, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
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Copyright
© 2023 Cooper, Pastorello and Slevin.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Mark Slevin, m.a.slevin@mmu.ac.uk; mark.slevin@umfst.ro
This article was submitted to Inflammation, a section of the journal Frontiers in Immunology
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.