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Age‐related Peripheral Vascular Dysfunction Predicts Cognitive Decline in Healthy Individuals
Author(s) -
Csipo Tamas,
Fulop Gabor Aron,
Lipecz Agnes,
Tarantini Stefano,
Hand Rachel,
Ngo BichThy,
Dzialendzik Mikita,
Balasubramanian Priya,
Kiss Tamas,
Yabluchanska Valeriya,
Csiszar Anna,
Ungvari Zoltan,
Yabluchanskiy Andriy
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.685.11
Subject(s) - arterial stiffness , medicine , cognition , cognitive decline , pulse wave velocity , dementia , gerontology , cardiology , peripheral , risk factor , diabetes mellitus , blood pressure , physical medicine and rehabilitation , endocrinology , psychiatry , disease
BACKGROUND Age‐related vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), defined as cognitive decline caused by cerebromicrovascular pathologies, is a major public health issue that affects >10 million individuals aged 65 and older in the US with annual healthcare costs totaling >$100 billion. Aging is a major risk factor for the development of VCID and current strategies for VCID treatment are limited to targeting cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc. Here, we hypothesized that aging, similarly to other risk factors, affects vasculature uniformly and that age‐related changes in the peripheral circulation can be used as an important tool to predict cognitive decline. METHODS For our study, we have enrolled 55 healthy 22–92 yo individuals and divided them into two groups of young (<45 yo) and aged (>65 yo). Peripheral macrovascular and microvascular endothelial function was measured using a standard flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) and Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging tests (LSCI) in response to increased flow‐mediated shear stress after a 5‐min of blood flow restriction with arterial cuff. Pulse Wave Analysis was used to evaluate the augmentation index (AIx) as a measure of arterial stiffness. A principal component analysis (PCA) approach was used to create a vascular health index (VHI) that included all vascular measurements for each participant. Cognitive function including domain of learning, memory and executive function was measured via a selection of tests from the Cambridge Cognition CANTAB cognitive panel. A PCA approach was used to generate a cognitive impairment index for each participant. RESULTS Subjects from the aged group showed significantly impaired macrovascular endothelial function (FMD, 5.4±0.7% vs. 8.5±0.6% in young, p<0.01) and increased arterial stiffness compared to young (AIx 28.9±1.7% vs 4.5±2.6% in young, p<0.01). Microvascular endothelial function showed significantly lower skin perfusion in aged subjects (2.8±0.1% vs 3.4±0.1% in young, p=0.03) that correlated with FMD measurements (r=0.34, p=0.014), and significantly lower reperfusion rate in aged individuals (25.8±2.2PU/s vs 35.1±2.7 PU/s in young, p=0.01). PCA‐generated Vascular Health Index (VHI) showed a significant negative correlation with age (r=−0.55, p<0.01). VHI correlated with the Cognitive Impairment Index (r=−0.44, p<0.01). CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates that deterioration of peripheral macro‐ and microvascular endothelial function is associated with and can predict VCID in healthy aged individuals. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .