Westlake Aging Cohort (WeAC)

Westlake Aging Cohort

The Westlake Ageing Cohort (WeAC) is a longitudinal cohort study conducted in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The investigators aim to enroll 2,800 participants aged 55 years and older for long-term follow-up. The population will include individuals with neurodegenerative diseases or those at the prodromal stage of cognitive impairment, as well as healthy middle-aged and older adults serving as controls. The investigators will collect their sociodemographic, dietary, lifestyle, clinical, and neuroimaging data, as well as biological samples.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Cognition Disorders; Aging; Cognition; Cognition Improvement

Detailed Description

The investigators will recruit middle-aged and aged participants, including healthy controls and individuals with neurodegenerative disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), etc. The aim of this study is to construct a longitudinal database that includes sociodemographic, lifestyle, clinical, neuroimaging, and multi-omics data. This database will be used to characterize the molecular signatures of neurodegenerative disorders. In addition, the investigators will identify biomarkers associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the investigators aim to uncover the mechanisms underlying the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and other neurodegenerative disorders.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 2800

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ju-Sheng Zheng, PhD; Phone Number: 86-0571-86915303; Email: zhengjusheng@westlake.edu.cn

Study Locations

• China
  • Zhejiang
    • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310058
      • Hangzhou First People's Hospital
    • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310058
      • Hangzhou Third people's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All participants must be Chinese residents, regardless of their ethnicity.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age between 55 and 90 years (inclusive) at baseline.
2. Availability of a companion capable of providing independent functional assessments and fluent in Chinese.
3. Willingness and ability to regularly complete required surveys and physical examinations as per study protocol.
4. MMSE scores were required to be 24-30 (inclusive) for healthy controls and MCI; and 20-24 (inclusive) for AD and DLB/PDD patients.
5. Healthy controls: CDR = 0, memory box = 0. MCI: CDR = 0.5, memory box ≥ 0.5. AD: CDR = 0.5 or 1. The DLB/PDD meets the core features of diagnosis.
6. Healthy controls exhibit no significant cognitive or functional decline. Patients with MCI have objective cognitive impairment not sufficient for an AD diagnosis. AD patients fulfill the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. DLB/PDD patients meet their respective international consensus diagnostic criteria. Other neurodegenerative diseases meet the diagnostic criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Participants with major medical or neuropsychiatric conditions unrelated to the study purposes were excluded. These included, but were not limited to, psychiatric disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, structural brain abnormalities, and epilepsy.
2. Current use of psychoactive medications or any other drugs that may affect the study.
3. Participants with cardiac pacemakers, artificial heart valves, or metallic implants in the eyes, skin, or any other part of the body.
4. Participants with any other diseases that may affect the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cognitive function	Cognitive function will be evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, score range: 0-30, with higher scores indicating better cognitive function) and clinical diagnosis provided by physicians.	48 months
Gut microbiome	The gut microbiome will be profiled by metagenomic sequencing or ITS rRNA sequencing. In addition, fecal microbiota will be cultured, isolated, and identified.	48 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Brain magnetic resonance imaging	Use brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the brain structure and function of participants.	48 months
Positron emission tomography	Assess the brain function and neurological disorders by positron emission tomography (PET).	48 months
Brain images relevant inspections	Other brain image relevant inspections required for study to measure brain structure and function of participants.	48 months
Electroencephalogram	Electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors the electrical activity of the brain. And further measure based on coupled EEG/MEG and eye-tracking.	48 months
Blood biochemical parameters	Blood biochemical parameters, including glucose and lipids, will be analyzed using an automated biochemical analyzer.	48 months
Serum inflammatory factors	Detect and assess serum inflammatory factors such as IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-12, in serum from participants.	48 months
Health and behavior monitoring	Use fitness trackers to record the physiological and behavioral data of participants.	48 months
Sleep data measurement	Use the polysomnography (PSG) to record the sleep data of participants to evaluate the sleep quality.	48 months
Continuous glucose monitoring	Use the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for dynamic blood glucose recording to determine the glycemic control of participants.	48 months
Environmental measurement	Use the environmental monitoring device to measure various exposure factors in the participants' living environment.	48 months
Multi-omics data	Multi omics results of detecting biological samples such as plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), urine, feces, saliva, etc.	48 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Westlake University
• Collaborators: The Third People's Hospital of Hangzhou; Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ju-Sheng Zheng, PhD, Westlake University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2031

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 24, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 28, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cognition; aging; brain; gut microbiota; multi-omics
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20251023ZJS001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No