Wei Xiaoyue, Iao Wai Cheng, Zhang Yi, Lin Zijie, Lin Haotian
State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Center for Precision Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Ophthalmol Sci. 2024 Jan 24;4(6):100465. doi: 10.1016/j.xops.2024.100465. eCollection 2024 Nov-Dec.
To reveal the causality between retinal vascular density (VD), fractal dimension (FD), and brain cortex structure using Mendelian randomization (MR).
Cross-sectional study.
Genome-wide association studies of VD and FD involving 54 813 participants from the United Kingdom Biobank were used. The brain cortical features, including the cortical thickness (TH) and surface area (SA), were extracted from 51 665 patients across 60 cohorts. Surface area and TH were measured globally and in 34 functional regions using magnetic resonance imaging.
Bidirectional univariable MR (UVMR) was used to detect the causality between FD, VD, and brain cortex structure. Multivariable MR (MVMR) was used to adjust for confounding factors, including body mass index and blood pressure.
The global and regional measurements of brain cortical SA and TH.
At the global level, higher VD is related to decreased TH ( = -0.0140 mm, 95% confidence interval: -0.0269 mm to -0.0011 mm, = 0.0339). At the functional level, retinal FD is related to the TH of banks of the superior temporal sulcus and transverse temporal region without global weighted, as well as the SA of the posterior cingulate after adjustment. Vascular density is correlated with the SA of subregions of the frontal lobe and temporal lobe, in addition to the TH of the inferior temporal, entorhinal, and pars opercularis regions in both UVMR and MVMR. Bidirectional MR studies showed a causation between the SA of the parahippocampal and cauda middle frontal gyrus and retinal VD. No pleiotropy was detected.
Fractal dimension and VD causally influence the cortical structure and vice versa, indicating that the retinal microvasculature may serve as a biomarker for cortex structural changes. Our study provides insights into utilizing noninvasive fundus images to predict cortical structural deteriorations and neuropsychiatric disorders.
The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
采用孟德尔随机化（MR）揭示视网膜血管密度（VD）、分形维数（FD）与脑皮质结构之间的因果关系。
横断面研究。
使用了来自英国生物银行的54813名参与者的VD和FD全基因组关联研究。从60个队列的51665名患者中提取脑皮质特征，包括皮质厚度（TH）和表面积（SA）。使用磁共振成像在整体和34个功能区域测量表面积和TH。
采用双向单变量MR（UVMR）检测FD、VD与脑皮质结构之间的因果关系。多变量MR（MVMR）用于调整混杂因素，包括体重指数和血压。
脑皮质SA和TH的整体和区域测量值。
在整体水平上，较高的VD与TH降低相关（β = -0.0140mm，95%置信区间：-0.0269mm至-0.0011mm，P = 0.0339）。在功能水平上，视网膜FD与未经全局加权的颞上沟和颞横区域堤岸的TH相关，以及调整后的后扣带回的SA相关。在UVMR和MVMR中，血管密度与额叶和颞叶亚区域的SA相关，此外还与颞下回、内嗅区和岛盖部的TH相关。双向MR研究显示海马旁和额中回中部的SA与视网膜VD之间存在因果关系。未检测到多效性。
分形维数和VD因果性地影响皮质结构，反之亦然，这表明视网膜微血管系统可能作为皮质结构变化的生物标志物。我们的研究为利用无创眼底图像预测皮质结构恶化和神经精神疾病提供了见解。
作者对本文讨论的任何材料均无所有权或商业利益。
