Jun 1, 2021
Associations seen with many CSF measures, but not beta-amyloid
Aortic stiffening was associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease, a cross-sectional study found.
“Among our oldest participants, age 74 years and older, greater aortic stiffening is associated with in vivo biomarker evidence of neuroinflammation, tau phosphorylation, synaptic dysfunction, and neurodegeneration, but not amyloidosis,” wrote Angela Jefferson, PhD, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and co-authors in
“Central arterial stiffening may lead to cumulative cerebral microcirculatory damage and blood flow delivery to tissue, resulting in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in more advanced age,” the researchers continued. “Collectively, our results suggest arterial stiffness does not primarily affect brain health through amyloidosis but rather through concomitant pathways of injury, though findings must be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size, multiple comparisons, and cross-sectional design.”