Elevated HbA1c is associated with advanced brain age in severe obesity

Elevated HbA1c is linked to advanced brain age gap in adults with severe obesity, with BAGENIGMA increasing by B = 1.70 (p = .002) in robust models.

• Why it matters: Cardiometabolic risk is common in severe obesity, but how it relates to brain-predicted biological aging—measured as brain age gap—has been unclear.
• What they did: Using T1-weighted MRI from 97 adults (BMI 35–73), the study computed BAG with ENIGMA and Pyment models and tested associations with HbA1c, BMI, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia via multiple linear regression and MM-estimation robust regression.
• The result: HbA1c showed significant associations with BAGENIGMA (B = 1.58, p = .014; robust B = 1.70, p = .002) and, in linear models, also with BAGPyment (B = 0.93, p = .013); stratification found effects at or above prediabetic levels and in diabetes.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.