Core 2: Laboratory Services Core

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SWAN-Aging will test the relation of midlife health and the menopause transition (MT) to successful aging in women. The Laboratory Services Core (Core 2) provides critical support for addressing the scientific aims of three integrated Projects: Project 1 will evaluate how the MT and midlife health relate to preservation of cognitive function (avoiding cognitive decline and onset of mild cognitive impairment), sleep, genitourinary and sexual function, and quality of life in early old age; Project 2 will test how the MT relates to cardiac health and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in women in early old age and test how cardiac health relates to early markers of physical impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia at a critical period in the lifespan; and Project 3 will examine the role of the MT and midlife health on musculoskeletal and physical function. Core 2 will be based at The Clinical Ligand Assay Satellite Services (CLASS) Laboratory which will directly support SWAN-Aging aims by coordinating biomarker assays run at CLASS and at two other labs. CLASS has been the Central Laboratory for endocrine and cytokine assays since SWAN’s inception and has assumed responsibility for creating biosample collection kits, coordination of shipping to and from clinical sites, receiving frozen samples, biobanking, and coordinating or performing all metabolic and cardiovascular assays. Core 2 will provide oversight for all laboratory components and will support the Projects by providing reliable and valid measures of sex hormones (by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectroscopy), cardio-metabolic health (glucose, insulin, lipids, galectin-3), and biomarkers relevant to multisystem aging (IL-10, NTproBNP). Core 2 will coordinate with the Administrative Core (Core 1) and the Data Collection and Data Management Core (Core 3) to ensure the quality of specimen collections and data transfer, and will: 1) Oversee preparation and transfer of 46,500 new specimens collected at clinic visits and retrieve 16,400 stored samples from the Repository; 2) Conduct high quality assays meeting the standards of CAP and Biorepository guidelines, including more sensitive sex hormone assays; 3) Provide assay results to Core 3 in a timely fashion for data cleaning and analysis; 4) Provide leadership on the interpretation of assay results for scientific aims testing relationships of hormones, cardiovascular markers, and cytokines to CVD events, bone health, sleep, psychosocial well-being, physical function, and multiple domains of cognition to detect cognitive impairment (executive and visual-spatial function, language fluency) and the functional impact of cognitive deficits (cognitively demanding instrumental activities of daily living). Rigorous measurement of the proposed markers over midlife uniquely position SWAN-Aging to test novel predictors of changes in physical and cognitive function and the onset of multi-morbidity, disability, and cognitive impairment in women. Identifying remediable risk factors for dementia risk early in the natural history of cognitive impairment is critical to promoting healthy aging and to preventing dementias, including Alzheimer’s Disease and vascular dementia, in women.