TY - JOUR
T1 - Modulation of retinal arteriolar central reflection by APOE genotype
AU - Frost, Shaun
AU - Bhuiyan, Alauddin
AU - Offerman, David
AU - Doecke, James D.
AU - Macaulay, S. Lance
AU - Sohrabi, Hamid
AU - Ames, David
AU - Masters, Colin
AU - Martins, Ralph
AU - Kanagasingam, Yogesan
AU - The AIBL Research Group
N1 - Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at [email protected].
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Objective: This study investigated the retinal arteriolar central reflex (CR, the central reflection observed in photographs of retinal vessels), which may provide information about micro-vascular health in the retina and also the brain, due to the homology between these vascular networks. The study also describes a novel computer based semi-automated technique that accurately quantifies retinal arteriolar CR and vessel width, and calculates the CR to vessel width ratio (CRR) from digital retinal photographs. Methods: Digital retinal photographs were collected from participants in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle study of ageing (AIBL), including 25 participants diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (age 72.4 ± 7.5 yrs, 12 male, 13 female) and 123 elderly participants without dementia (cognitively normals: CN) (age 71.6 ± 5.6 yrs, 55 male, 68 female). Using a sub-cohort of 144 (22 AD, 122 CN) with the novel CRR measures, we identified significantly higher CRR levels in AD participants (mean CRR 0.253 (SD 0.04)) as compared with CN's (mean CRR 0.231 (SD 0.04), p = 0.025). Adjustment for APOE ε4 allele status however, reduced the significance (p = 0.081). CRR was significantly higher in APOE ε4 allele carriers (mean CRR 0.254 (SD 0.03) as compared with non-carriers (mean CRR 0.224 (SD 0.05), p < 0.0001). Results: These data indicate that CRR is strongly linked to APOE ε4 status and exhibits a weaker, independent trend with AD diagnosis. The retina may be useful as a novel model for non-invasive monitoring of the effects of APOE ε4 on the central nervous system, particularly in cerebrovascular disease.
AB - Objective: This study investigated the retinal arteriolar central reflex (CR, the central reflection observed in photographs of retinal vessels), which may provide information about micro-vascular health in the retina and also the brain, due to the homology between these vascular networks. The study also describes a novel computer based semi-automated technique that accurately quantifies retinal arteriolar CR and vessel width, and calculates the CR to vessel width ratio (CRR) from digital retinal photographs. Methods: Digital retinal photographs were collected from participants in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle study of ageing (AIBL), including 25 participants diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (age 72.4 ± 7.5 yrs, 12 male, 13 female) and 123 elderly participants without dementia (cognitively normals: CN) (age 71.6 ± 5.6 yrs, 55 male, 68 female). Using a sub-cohort of 144 (22 AD, 122 CN) with the novel CRR measures, we identified significantly higher CRR levels in AD participants (mean CRR 0.253 (SD 0.04)) as compared with CN's (mean CRR 0.231 (SD 0.04), p = 0.025). Adjustment for APOE ε4 allele status however, reduced the significance (p = 0.081). CRR was significantly higher in APOE ε4 allele carriers (mean CRR 0.254 (SD 0.03) as compared with non-carriers (mean CRR 0.224 (SD 0.05), p < 0.0001). Results: These data indicate that CRR is strongly linked to APOE ε4 status and exhibits a weaker, independent trend with AD diagnosis. The retina may be useful as a novel model for non-invasive monitoring of the effects of APOE ε4 on the central nervous system, particularly in cerebrovascular disease.
KW - Alzheimer’s
KW - retina
KW - vision disorders
KW - aging
KW - diagnosis
KW - APOE
KW - Vision disorders
KW - Aging
KW - Retina
KW - Diagnosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029650153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2174/1567205014666170309115016
DO - 10.2174/1567205014666170309115016
M3 - Article
C2 - 28290247
SN - 1567-2050
VL - 14
SP - 916
EP - 923
JO - Current Alzheimer Research
JF - Current Alzheimer Research
IS - 9
ER -