Retinal vascular alterations are associated with cognitive function and neuroimaging in white matter hyperintensities

IF 2.9 4区医学 Q2 PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE

Microvascular research Pub Date : 2024-11-19 DOI:10.1016/j.mvr.2024.104763

Rui Tao , Zhenyu Wei , Xiaoxia Chen , Qian Wang , Xiuduo Liu , Qing Lu , Jie Zhao , Hui Zhou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim

To reveal alterations in retinal structure, vessels, and function, and their association with cognitive function and neuroimaging in white matter hyperintensities (WMH).

Methods

This study enlisted WMH and age-matched healthy controls (HC). All participants underwent six different tests: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual field testing. Visual field can reflect the function of optic nerve and retina. The peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (p-RNFL) was analyzed using OCT. Image J software was employed to measure retinal vascular caliber in fundus photographs and to compute the central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE), central retinal venous equivalent (CRVE) and arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR).

Results

A total of 90 WMH patients and 93 HC participants. In comparison with the HC, the WMH group exhibited reduced cognitive function scores (MoCA: P < 0.001; MMSE: P < 0.001), narrower retinal arteries (P < 0.001), smaller AVR (P < 0.001) and thinner p-RNFL thickness (total: P = 0.026; temporal: P = 0.006). About visual field, both univariate and multivariate analysis showed that mean sensitivity decreased, and mean defect increased in WMH group (P < 0.05). Additionally, correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between CRAE and AVR with MMSE and MoCA score (r = 0.424–0.57, P < 0.001) and a negative correlation with Fazekas score (CRAE: r = −0.515, P < 0.001; AVR: r = −0.554, P < 0.001), and p-RNFL was negatively correlated with Fazekas score (total p-RNFL: r = −0.192, P = 0.009; temporal p-RNFL: r = −0.217, P = 0.003). Notably, no significant correlation was found between cognitive function and p-RNFL.

Conclusion

WMH group exhibit narrower retinal arteries, smaller arteriole-to-venule ratio, damaged p-RNFL and visual function. These alterations in retinal vessels are associate with both neuroimaging and cognitive function. Our results suggest that retinal imaging could serve as a valuable instrument for evaluating WMH and provides some new approaches to study the characteristic markers of WMH.

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视网膜血管改变与认知功能和白质高密度症的神经影像学相关。

目的：揭示白质高密度症（WMH）患者视网膜结构、血管和功能的改变及其与认知功能和神经影像学的关联：本研究招募了 WMH 和年龄匹配的健康对照组（HC）。所有参与者都接受了六项不同的测试：脑部磁共振成像（MRI）、迷你精神状态检查（MMSE）、蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）、眼底照相、光学相干断层扫描（OCT）和视野测试。视野可反映视神经和视网膜的功能。光学相干断层扫描分析了视网膜周围神经纤维层（p-RNFL）。使用 Image J 软件测量眼底照片中的视网膜血管口径，并计算视网膜中央动脉等值（CRAE）、视网膜中央静脉等值（CRVE）和动静脉比（AVR）：共有90名WMH患者和93名HC参与者。与 HC 相比，WMH 组患者的认知功能评分降低（MoCA：P 结论：WMH 组患者的视网膜变窄，而 HC 组患者的视网膜变窄：WMH 组表现出视网膜动脉变窄、动脉血管与小动脉之比变小、p-RNFL 和视觉功能受损。视网膜血管的这些改变与神经影像学和认知功能都有关联。我们的研究结果表明，视网膜成像可作为评估 WMH 的重要工具，并为研究 WMH 的特征标记提供了一些新方法。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Microvascular research 医学-外周血管病

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

3.20%

发文量

158

审稿时长

43 days

期刊介绍： Microvascular Research is dedicated to the dissemination of fundamental information related to the microvascular field. Full-length articles presenting the results of original research and brief communications are featured. Research Areas include: • Angiogenesis • Biochemistry • Bioengineering • Biomathematics • Biophysics • Cancer • Circulatory homeostasis • Comparative physiology • Drug delivery • Neuropharmacology • Microvascular pathology • Rheology • Tissue Engineering.