Title: P-023: Arterial spin-labeling MR imaging in middle-aged adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease: Association of clinical measures of global vascular risk with quantitative cerebral perfusion
Abstract: Cerebrovascular dysregulation is one of the earliest pathologic changes in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While studies strongly support an association between vascular risk factors and the development of AD, little is known about the relationship between global vascular risk and quantitative cerebral blood flow (qCBF) in asymptomatic middle-aged adults at risk for AD. To describe the relationship between an established measure of global vascular risk (Framingham 10-Year Cardiovascular Disease [CVD] Risk %) and qCBF using arterial spin-labeling MRI (ASL-MRI) in asymptomatic middle-aged adult children of persons with AD. In a cross-sectional preliminary analysis, 11 participants had ASL-MRI performed using a background suppressed pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling sequence on a 3T GE Signa scanner using an 8 channel head coil. Vascular risk factors were measured and Framingham risk % was calculated, which factors in measures of age, total and HDL cholesterol, smoking status, and systolic blood pressure. Images were spatially normalized to a template brain space, smoothed, and voxel-wise statistical analyses were performed using a voxel-level threshold P<0.005 and corrected voxel number and cluster size, equivalent to group level P<0.05. Regions of interest were isolated and mean qCBF for each region was measured. Participant characteristics are shown in the Table. Mean Framingham risk score was 12 ± 3 points, corresponding to a 10-year CVD risk of 4%. On ASL-MRI, qCBF was inversely correlated with 10-year CVD risk % on voxel-based analyses (Figure). When regions of interest were isolated, 10-year CVD risk % was consistently inversely related to qCBF in the superior frontal gyrus (r= -0.817, p=0.002), middle temporal gyrus (r= -0.787, p=0.004), parietal lobe (r= -0.773, p=0.005), posterior cingulate (r= -0.744, p=0.009), parahippocampus (r= -0.691, p=0.019), and hippocampus (r= - 0.594, p=0.054). In a preclinical population of middle-aged adults at risk for AD, increased global vascular risk burden may already be negatively affecting CBF in areas of the brain involved with memory and learning. Future clinical trials are needed to clarify the impact of reduced cerebral perfusion on the risk of developing AD in asymptomatic adults.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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