J Clin Neurol.  2007 Mar;3(1):18-23. 10.3988/jcn.2007.3.1.18.

Decreased Vasomotor Reactivity in Alzheimer's Disease

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Boramae Hospital, Seoul, Korea. lys@brm.co.kr
  • 2Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Seoul National Mental Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Division of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Korea Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Reduced cerebral blood flow and microvascular abnormalities have been suggested as the vascular pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) can be used as a noninvasive method for measuring cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) which represent the capability of arterioles to dilate and constrict in order to maintain cerebral blood flow.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine whether VMR is decreased in AD patients. Methods: Seventeen consecutive patients who met NINDS-ADRDA criteria for AD, and 17 age- and sex-matched controls were included in this study. MRI and MRA were performed for the grading of white-matter lesions. Patients with cerebral infarct or stenosis of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) were excluded. The fixed TCD probe was used to monitor the mean flow velocity (MFV) in the MCA. A 6-L rebreathing bag was applied to patients for at least 5 minutes to elevate the CO2 concentration, which was continuously monitored with a capnometer. VMR was calculated as the percentage change in the MFV.
RESULTS
Baseline characteristics - including cerebrovascular risk factors, grades of white-matter lesions, baseline MFV, and pulsatility index - did not differ between the two groups. Mini-Mental State Examination score was significantly low in AD group (20.5 vs. 27.5, p<0.05). VMR was significantly reduced in AD group both in the right-side (24.5% vs. 36.6%, p<0.05) and left-side (20.7% vs. 34.1%, p<0.05) MCAs.
CONCLUSIONS
Our finding that VMR is reduced in AD may be suggestive of underlying microangiopathic mechanism in AD patients. Future studies should check the validity of these experimental and hypothesis-generating pilot results.

Keyword

Vasomotor reactivity; Alzheimer's disease; Transcranial Doppler sonography; Cerebral blood flow

MeSH Terms

Alzheimer Disease*
Arterioles
Constriction, Pathologic
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Middle Cerebral Artery
Risk Factors
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial

Figure

  • Figure 1 Difference in VMR values. VMR was significantly reduced in AD patients in the MCAs on both sides, being 57.7±22.2 and 36.8±26.0 in control subjects and AD patients, respectively, on the right side, and 58.7±21.1 and 37.2±22.7 on the left side (*p<0.05 vs. control).

  • Figure 2 Correlation between MMSE score and VMR. Scatterplot shows no correlation between MMSE score and VMR both in the right-side (p=0.758) and left-side (p=0.324) MCAs.


Cited by  1 articles

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Chulhee Choi, Jee-Hyang Jeong, Joong Sik Jang, Kyungsun Choi, Jungsul Lee, Jongbum Kwon, Kyoung-Gyu Choi, Jong-Seo Lee, Sang Won Kang
J Clin Neurol. 2008;4(2):84-88.    doi: 10.3988/jcn.2008.4.2.84.


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