Department of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2022;89(1):223-232. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215679.
Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, though there is limited evidence of a direct link between carotid disease and amyloid-β (Aβ) burden.
We studied the association of baseline and progressive carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) with Aβ on 11C-Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) to determine if those with carotid atherosclerosis would have higher Aβ burden.
We studied 47 participants from the Framingham Offspring cohort with carotid ultrasounds measuring CIMT at their 6th clinic examination (aged 49.5±5.7 years) and an average of 9.6 years later, and PiB imaging measuring Aβ on average 22.1 years post baseline. We used multivariate linear regression analyses to relate baseline, follow-up, mean, and progression of internal carotid artery (ICA) and common carotid artery (CCA) CIMT to Aβ in brain regions associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD), adjusting for age, sex, and other vascular risk factors.
Participants with higher mean ICA IMT had more Aβ in the precuneus (beta±standard error [β±SE]: 0.466±0.171 mm, p = 0.01) and the frontal, lateral, and retrosplenial regions (β±SE: 0.392±0.164 mm, p = 0.022) after adjusting for age, sex, vascular risk factors, and medication use. We did not find an association between any CCA IMT measures and Aβ or progression of ICA or CCA IMT and Aβ.
Carotid atherosclerosis, as measured by ICA IMT, is associated with increased Aβ burden later in life. These findings support a link between vascular disease and AD/ADRD pathophysiology.
颈动脉粥样硬化与认知障碍和痴呆有关，但颈动脉疾病与淀粉样蛋白-β（Aβ）负担之间的直接联系证据有限。
我们研究了基线和进展性颈动脉内膜中层厚度（CIMT）与 11C-匹兹堡化合物 B（PiB）上 Aβ 的关系，以确定是否存在颈动脉粥样硬化的人会有更高的 Aβ 负担。
我们研究了弗雷明汉后代队列中的 47 名参与者，他们在第 6 次临床检查时进行了颈动脉超声测量 CIMT（年龄 49.5±5.7 岁），平均 9.6 年后再次进行了 CIMT 测量，并且平均在基线后 22.1 年进行了 PiB 成像以测量 Aβ。我们使用多元线性回归分析来研究内颈动脉（ICA）和颈总动脉（CCA）CIMT 的基线、随访、平均值和进展与与阿尔茨海默病（AD）和相关痴呆（ADRD）相关的脑区 Aβ 的关系，同时调整年龄、性别和其他血管危险因素。
ICA 平均 IMT 较高的参与者在楔前叶（beta±标准误差[β±SE]：0.466±0.171mm，p=0.01）和额、外侧和后扣带回区域的 Aβ 更多（β±SE：0.392±0.164mm，p=0.022），调整年龄、性别、血管危险因素和用药后。我们没有发现任何 CCA IMT 测量与 Aβ 或 ICA 或 CCA IMT 的进展与 Aβ 之间的关联。
ICA IMT 测量的颈动脉粥样硬化与晚年 Aβ 负担增加有关。这些发现支持血管疾病与 AD/ADRD 病理生理学之间的联系。
