In an observational study of gene expression in blood leukocytes in humans, Harries et al. found evidence of a relationship between expression of<unk>  and cognitive function (assessed using the mini-mental state examination, MMSE). Higher<unk>  expression was associated with worse performance on the MMSE assessment of cognitive function. The same study found that<unk>  expression was also associated with cognitive decline over 9-years in a sub-analysis on inflammatory related transcripts only. Harries et al. suggest that<unk>  signaling may have a direct role in human cognition, partly because expression of<unk>  was associated with the ApoE haplotype (previously associated with Alzheimer's disease), but also because CCL2 is expressed at high concentrations in macrophages found in atherosclerotic plaques and in brain microglia. The difference in observations between mice <unk>  depletion causes cognitive decline) and humans (higher<unk>  associated with lower cognitive function) could be due to increased demand for macrophage activation during cognitive decline, associated with increased β-amyloid deposition (a core feature of Alzheimer's disease progression).
CCR2
CCR5
LYRa11
LPAR6
CD137
IKK2
CDV3 
BBV154