Association between retinal thickness and β-amyloid brain accumulation in individuals with subjective cognitive decline: Fundació ACE Healthy Brain Initiative

Abstract

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the retina is a fast and easily accessible tool for the quantification of retinal structural measurements. Multiple studies show that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit thinning in several retinal layers compared to age-matched controls. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) has been proposed as a risk factor for progression to AD. There is little data about retinal changes in preclinical AD and their correlation with amyloid-β (Aβ) uptake. Aims: We investigated the association of retinal thickness quantified by OCT with Aβ accumulation and conversion to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over 24 months in individuals with SCD. Methods: One hundred twenty-nine individuals with SCD enrolled in Fundació ACE Healthy Brain Initiative underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing, OCT scan of the retina and florbetaben (FBB) positron emission tomography (PET) at baseline (v0) and after 24 months (v2). We assessed the association of sixteen retinal thickness measurements at baseline with FBB-PET status (+/−) and global standardize uptake value ratio (SUVR) as a continuous measure at v0 and v2 and their predictive value on clinical status change (conversion to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)) at v2.

Optical Coherence Tomography in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease: What Can It Tell Us?

“…), 17–34 , 36–44 , 46 , 47 , 49–80 56 (79%) relied on clinical diagnosis by experts based on criteria such as the DSM-IV or NINCDS-ADRDA, 18 , 20 , 21 , 24 , 26–34 , 36 , 39 , 41–44 , 46–52 , 54–57 , 62–64 , 66–88 29 (41%) utilized neuroimaging techniques (eg magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scan, or PET), 18 , 19 , 21–23 , 25 , 29–31 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 39–41 , 44 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 53 , 56 , 57 , 60 , 61 , 66 , 68 , 75 , 79 and 13 (18%) used immunohistochemical staining for biomarkers tau and amyloid. 21–23 , 25 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 50 , 51 , 61 …”

“…The vast majority of studies compared patients with AD to healthy controls, while 25 studies 24 , 26–30 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 46–48 , 51 , 52 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 65 , 75 , 76 , 78 , 81 , 83 included an additional subset of patients with a diagnosis of MCI or subjective cognitive decline for comparison. Four studies also included subjects with preclinical AD, 32 , 35 , 40 , 53 defined as cognitively normal individuals who are positive for established AD biomarkers. Three studies also included patients with other forms of dementia, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Lewy Body dementia (LBD), and unspecified non-AD dementia for comparison.…”

“…Finally, OCT/OCTA findings have been shown to be associated with other objective tools for AD diagnosis such as cortical atrophy, immunohistochemical staining, and results of neurocognitive testing, which strengthens the case for their application as diagnostic tools. 17–19 , 22 , 23 , 31 , 32 , 40 , 45 , 48 , 55 , 59 , 64 , 87 …”

“…Finally, OCT/OCTA findings have been shown to be associated with other objective tools for AD diagnosis such as cortical atrophy, immunohistochemical staining, and results of neurocognitive testing, which strengthens the case for their application as diagnostic tools. [17][18][19]22,23,31,32,40,45,48,55,59,64,87 One potentially important avenue for the use of OCT/ OCTA is in the early diagnosis and screening of preclinical AD. Current research suggests that it may be possible to detect microvascular and structural changes in submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com…”

“…Sixty-one (86%) studies used a form of neurocognitive testing (eg Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), etc. ), [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]46,47, 56 (79%) relied on clinical diagnosis by experts based on criteria such as the DSM-IV or NINCDS-ADRDA, 18,20,21,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]36,39,[41][42][43][44][46][47][48]…”