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Csiszar A, Ungvari A, Patai R, Gulej R, Yabluchanskiy A, Benyo Z, Kovacs I, Sotonyi P, Kirkpartrick AC, Prodan CI, Liotta EM, Zhang XA, Toth P, Tarantini S, Sorond FA, Ungvari Z. Atherosclerotic burden and cerebral small vessel disease: exploring the link through microvascular aging and cerebral microhemorrhages. GeroScience 2024; 46:5103-5132. [PMID: 38639833 PMCID: PMC11336042 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-024-01139-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs, also known as cerebral microbleeds) are a critical but frequently underestimated aspect of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), bearing substantial clinical consequences. Detectable through sensitive neuroimaging techniques, CMHs reveal an extensive pathological landscape. They are prevalent in the aging population, with multiple CMHs often being observed in a given individual. CMHs are closely associated with accelerated cognitive decline and are increasingly recognized as key contributors to the pathogenesis of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This review paper delves into the hypothesis that atherosclerosis, a prevalent age-related large vessel disease, extends its pathological influence into the cerebral microcirculation, thereby contributing to the development and progression of CSVD, with a specific focus on CMHs. We explore the concept of vascular aging as a continuum, bridging macrovascular pathologies like atherosclerosis with microvascular abnormalities characteristic of CSVD. We posit that the same risk factors precipitating accelerated aging in large vessels (i.e., atherogenesis), primarily through oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, similarly instigate accelerated microvascular aging. Accelerated microvascular aging leads to increased microvascular fragility, which in turn predisposes to the formation of CMHs. The presence of hypertension and amyloid pathology further intensifies this process. We comprehensively overview the current body of evidence supporting this interconnected vascular hypothesis. Our review includes an examination of epidemiological data, which provides insights into the prevalence and impact of CMHs in the context of atherosclerosis and CSVD. Furthermore, we explore the shared mechanisms between large vessel aging, atherogenesis, microvascular aging, and CSVD, particularly focusing on how these intertwined processes contribute to the genesis of CMHs. By highlighting the role of vascular aging in the pathophysiology of CMHs, this review seeks to enhance the understanding of CSVD and its links to systemic vascular disorders. Our aim is to provide insights that could inform future therapeutic approaches and research directions in the realm of neurovascular health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Csiszar
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Anna Ungvari
- Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Roland Patai
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Rafal Gulej
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Andriy Yabluchanskiy
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Health Promotion Sciences, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral College/Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zoltan Benyo
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1094, Budapest, Hungary
- Cerebrovascular and Neurocognitive Disorders Research Group, HUN-REN, Semmelweis University, 1094, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Illes Kovacs
- Department of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, 1085, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, 10021, USA
| | - Peter Sotonyi
- Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Heart and Vascular Centre, Semmelweis University, 1122, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Angelia C Kirkpartrick
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Calin I Prodan
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Eric M Liotta
- International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral College/Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Neurology, Division of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Xin A Zhang
- Department of Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Peter Toth
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary
- Neurotrauma Research Group, Szentagothai Research Centre, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary
- ELKH-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary
| | - Stefano Tarantini
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Health Promotion Sciences, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral College/Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Farzaneh A Sorond
- Department of Neurology, Division of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Zoltan Ungvari
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Department of Health Promotion Sciences, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral College/Department of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
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Liu X, Zhu H, Zhang H, Xia S. The Framework of Quantifying Biomarkers of OCT and OCTA Images in Retinal Diseases. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 24:5227. [PMID: 39204923 PMCID: PMC11359948 DOI: 10.3390/s24165227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2024] [Revised: 08/01/2024] [Accepted: 08/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Despite the significant advancements facilitated by previous research in introducing a plethora of retinal biomarkers, there is a lack of research addressing the clinical need for quantifying different biomarkers and prioritizing their importance for guiding clinical decision making in the context of retinal diseases. To address this issue, our study introduces a novel framework for quantifying biomarkers derived from optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images in retinal diseases. We extract 452 feature parameters from five feature types, including local binary patterns (LBP) features of OCT and OCTA, capillary and large vessel features, and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) feature. Leveraging this extensive feature set, we construct a classification model using a statistically relevant p value for feature selection to predict retinal diseases. We obtain a high accuracy of 0.912 and F1-score of 0.906 in the task of disease classification using this framework. We find that OCT and OCTA's LBP features provide a significant contribution of 77.12% to the significance of biomarkers in predicting retinal diseases, suggesting their potential as latent indicators for clinical diagnosis. This study employs a quantitative analysis framework to identify potential biomarkers for retinal diseases in OCT and OCTA images. Our findings suggest that LBP parameters, skewness and kurtosis values of capillary, the maximum, mean, median, and standard deviation of large vessel, as well as the eccentricity, compactness, flatness, and anisotropy index of FAZ, may serve as significant indicators of retinal conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoli Liu
- School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Haogang Zhu
- Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Hanji Zhang
- School of Medical Technology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300203, China
| | - Shaoyan Xia
- School of Medical Technology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300203, China
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Liu F, Chen X, Wang Q, Lin W, Li Y, Zhang R, Huang H, Jiang S, Niu Y, Liu W, Wang L, Zhang W, Zheng Y, Cao X, Wang Y, Wu J, Zhang L, Tang L, Zhou J, Chen P, Cai G, Dong Z. Correlation between retinal vascular geometric parameters and pathologically diagnosed type 2 diabetic nephropathy. Clin Kidney J 2024; 17:sfae204. [PMID: 39099565 PMCID: PMC11292218 DOI: 10.1093/ckj/sfae204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are common microvascular complications of diabetes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between retinal vascular geometric parameters and pathologically diagnosed type 2 DN and to determine the capacity of retinal vascular geometric parameters in differentiating DN from non-diabetic renal disease (NDRD). Methods The study participants were adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease who underwent a renal biopsy. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations between retinal vessel geometry parameters and pathologically diagnosed DN. Multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were performed to establish a differential diagnostic model for DN. Results In total, 403 patients were examined in this cross-sectional study, including 152 (37.7%) with DN, 157 (39.0%) with NDRD and 94 (23.3%) with DN combined with NDRD. After univariate logistic regression, total vessel fractal dimension, arteriolar fractal dimension and venular fractal dimension were all found to be associated with DN. In multivariate analyses adjusting for age, sex, blood pressure, diabetes, DR and other factors, smaller retinal vascular fractal dimensions were significantly associated with DN (P < .05). We developed a differential diagnostic model for DN combining traditional clinical indicators and retinal vascular geometric parameters. The area under the curve of the model established by multivariate logistic regression was 0.930. Conclusions Retinal vessel fractal dimension is of great significance for the rapid and non-invasive differentiation of DN. Incorporating retinal vessel fractal dimension into the diagnostic model for DN and NDRD can improve the diagnostic efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Liu
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
- First Clinical Medical College, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoniao Chen
- Senior Department of Ophthalmology, Third Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Wang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Wenwen Lin
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
- First Clinical Medical College, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ying Li
- Senior Department of Ophthalmology, Third Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Ruimin Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
- College of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Hui Huang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
- First Clinical Medical College, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuangshuang Jiang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Niu
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Weicen Liu
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Liqiang Wang
- Senior Department of Ophthalmology, Third Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Weiguang Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Zheng
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Xueying Cao
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Yong Wang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Wu
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Li Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Li Tang
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Jianhui Zhou
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Pu Chen
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Guangyan Cai
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
| | - Zheyi Dong
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases Research, Beijing, China
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Chew EY, Burns SA, Abraham AG, Bakhoum MF, Beckman JA, Chui TYP, Finger RP, Frangi AF, Gottesman RF, Grant MB, Hanssen H, Lee CS, Meyer ML, Rizzoni D, Rudnicka AR, Schuman JS, Seidelmann SB, Tang WHW, Adhikari BB, Danthi N, Hong Y, Reid D, Shen GL, Oh YS. Standardization and clinical applications of retinal imaging biomarkers for cardiovascular disease: a Roadmap from an NHLBI workshop. Nat Rev Cardiol 2024:10.1038/s41569-024-01060-8. [PMID: 39039178 DOI: 10.1038/s41569-024-01060-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024]
Abstract
The accessibility of the retina with the use of non-invasive and relatively low-cost ophthalmic imaging techniques and analytics provides a unique opportunity to improve the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of systemic diseases. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute conducted a workshop in October 2022 to examine this concept. On the basis of the discussions at that workshop, this Roadmap describes current knowledge gaps and new research opportunities to evaluate the relationships between the eye (in particular, retinal biomarkers) and the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, hypertension and vascular dementia. Identified gaps include the need to simplify and standardize the capture of high-quality images of the eye by non-ophthalmic health workers and to conduct longitudinal studies using multidisciplinary networks of diverse at-risk populations with improved implementation and methods to protect participant and dataset privacy. Other gaps include improving the measurement of structural and functional retinal biomarkers, determining the relationship between microvascular and macrovascular risk factors, improving multimodal imaging 'pipelines', and integrating advanced imaging with 'omics', lifestyle factors, primary care data and radiological reports, by using artificial intelligence technology to improve the identification of individual-level risk. Future research on retinal microvascular disease and retinal biomarkers might additionally provide insights into the temporal development of microvascular disease across other systemic vascular beds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Y Chew
- Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Stephen A Burns
- School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Alison G Abraham
- Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Mathieu F Bakhoum
- Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and Pathology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Joshua A Beckman
- Division of Vascular Medicine, University of Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Toco Y P Chui
- Department of Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Robert P Finger
- Department of Ophthalmology, Mannheim Medical Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Alejandro F Frangi
- Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Science (School of Health Sciences), Department of Computer Science (School of Engineering), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
| | - Rebecca F Gottesman
- Stroke Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Maria B Grant
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Alabama Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Henner Hanssen
- Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Cecilia S Lee
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Michelle L Meyer
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Damiano Rizzoni
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Alicja R Rudnicka
- Population Health Research Institute, St. George's University of London, London, UK
| | - Joel S Schuman
- Wills Eye Hospital, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sara B Seidelmann
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Greenwich, CT, USA
| | - W H Wilson Tang
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Bishow B Adhikari
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Narasimhan Danthi
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yuling Hong
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Diane Reid
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Grace L Shen
- Retinal Diseases Program, Division of Extramural Science Programs, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Young S Oh
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
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El Husseini N, Schaich CL, Craft S, Rapp SR, Hayden KM, Sharrett R, Cotch MF, Wong TY, Luchsinger JA, Espeland MA, Baker LD, Bertoni AG, Hughes TM. Retinal vessel caliber and cognitive performance: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). Sci Rep 2024; 14:4120. [PMID: 38374377 PMCID: PMC10876697 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54412-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Retinal vessel calibers share anatomic and physiologic characteristics with the cerebral vasculature and can be visualized noninvasively. In light of the known microvascular contributions to brain health and cognitive function, we aimed to determine if, in a community based-study, retinal vessel calibers and change in caliber over 8 years are associated with cognitive function or trajectory. Participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort who completed cognitive testing at Exam 5 (2010-2012) and had retinal vascular caliber measurements (Central Retinal Artery and Vein Equivalents; CRAE and CRVE) at Exam 2 (2002-2004) and Exam 5 were included. Using multivariable linear regression, we evaluated the association of CRAE and CRVE from Exam 2 and Exam 5 and their change between the two exams with scores on tests of global cognitive function (Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument; CASI), processing speed (Digit Symbol Coding; DSC) and working memory (Digit Span; DS) at Exam 5 and with subsequent change in cognitive scores between Exam 5 and Exam 6 (2016-2018).The main effects are reported as the difference in cognitive test score per SD increment in retinal vascular caliber with 95% confidence intervals (CI). A total of 4334 participants (aged 61.6 ± 9.2 years; 53% female; 41% White) completed cognitive testing and at least one retinal assessment. On multivariable analysis, a 1 SD larger CRAE at exam 5 was associated with a lower concomitant CASI score (- 0.24, 95% CI - 0.46, - 0.02). A 1 SD larger CRVE at exam 2 was associated with a lower subsequent CASI score (- 0.23, 95%CI - 0.45, - 0.01). A 1 SD larger CRVE at exam 2 or 5 was associated with a lower DSC score [(- 0.56, 95% CI - 1.02, - 0.09) and - 0.55 (95% CI - 1.03, - 0.07) respectively]. The magnitude of the associations was relatively small (2.8-3.1% of SD). No significant associations were found between retinal vessel calibers at Exam 2 and 5 with the subsequent score trajectory of cognitive tests performance over an average of 6 years. Wider retinal venular caliber was associated with concomitant and future measures of slower processing speed but not with later cognitive trajectory. Future studies should evaluate the utility of these measures in risk stratification models from a clinical perspective as well as for screening on a population level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nada El Husseini
- Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Duke South, Purple Zone, Suite 0109, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
| | - Christopher L Schaich
- Department of Surgery, Hypertension and Vascular Research Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Suzanne Craft
- Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Stephen R Rapp
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Kathleen M Hayden
- Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Richey Sharrett
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Tien Y Wong
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Jose A Luchsinger
- Division of General Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mark A Espeland
- Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Laura D Baker
- Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Alain G Bertoni
- Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - Timothy M Hughes
- Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA
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