National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, Md 21224, USA.
Stroke. 2010 Feb;41(2):273-9. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.566810. Epub 2009 Dec 31.
The relationship between the thickness of the carotid intima (IMT) and brain function remains unclear in those without clinical manifestations of cerebrovascular disease. Understanding the neural correlates of this vascular measure is important in view of emerging evidence linking poorer cognitive performance with increased IMT in individuals without clinical cerebrovascular disease.
Seventy-three participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (70.9 years; SD, 7.3) were evaluated with carotid artery ultrasound and resting [(15)O]H(2)O positron emission tomography.
After adjusting for age, gender, and gray and white matter volumes in the regions where IMT is related to regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), we found that higher IMT was associated with lower rCBF in lingual, inferior occipital, and superior temporal regions. Higher IMT was also associated with higher rCBF in medial frontal gyrus, putamen, and hippocampal-uncal regions (P=0.001). Whereas women had lower IMT (P=0.01) and mean arterial pressure (P=0.05) than men, they showed more robust associations between IMT and rCBF. The relationship between IMT and rCBF was only minimally affected by additional adjustment for mean arterial pressure.
IMT is related to patterns of resting rCBF in older adults without clinical manifestations of cerebrovascular disease, suggesting that there are regional differences in CBF that are associated with subclinical vascular disease.
在没有脑血管疾病临床表现的人群中，颈动脉内膜（IMT）厚度与脑功能之间的关系尚不清楚。鉴于有新的证据表明，在没有临床脑血管疾病的个体中，认知表现越差与 IMT 增加有关，因此了解这种血管测量的神经相关性很重要。
对巴尔的摩纵向老龄化研究中的 73 名参与者（70.9 岁，标准差为 7.3 岁）进行了颈动脉超声和静息 [15]O]H(2)O 正电子发射断层扫描。
在调整了年龄、性别以及与 IMT 与局部脑血流（rCBF）相关的区域中的灰质和白质体积后，我们发现 IMT 较高与舌、下枕和上颞区域的 rCBF 较低相关。IMT 较高也与内侧额回、壳核和海马-小脑回区域的 rCBF 较高相关（P=0.001）。尽管女性的 IMT（P=0.01）和平均动脉压（P=0.05）低于男性，但她们在 IMT 和 rCBF 之间的关联更加强烈。在进一步调整平均动脉压后，IMT 和 rCBF 之间的关系仅略有影响。
在没有脑血管疾病临床表现的老年人群中，IMT 与静息 rCBF 模式有关，这表明存在与亚临床血管疾病相关的局部脑血流差异。
