Abstract

Retinal assessments have been discussed as biomarkers for brain atrophy. However, available studies did not investigate all retinal layers due to older technology, reported inconsistent results, or were based on small sample sizes. We included 2872 eligible participants of the Rhineland Study with data on spectral domain–optical coherence tomography (SD–OCT) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used multiple linear regression to examine relationships between retinal measurements and volumetric brain measures as well as fractional anisotropy (FA) as measure of microstructural integrity of white matter (WM) for different brain regions. Mean (SD) age was 53.8 ± 13.2 years (range 30–94) and 57% were women. Volumes of the inner retina were associated with total brain and grey matter (GM) volume, and even stronger with WM volume and FA. In contrast, the outer retina was mainly associated with GM volume, while both, inner and outer retina, were associated with hippocampus volume. While we extend previously reported associations between the inner retina and brain measures, we found additional associations of the outer retina with parts of the brain. This indicates that easily accessible retinal SD-OCT assessments may serve as biomarkers for clinical monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases and merit further research.

Details

Title
Retinal layer assessments as potential biomarkers for brain atrophy in the Rhineland Study
Author
Mauschitz, Matthias M. 1 ; Lohner, Valerie 2 ; Koch, Alexandra 2 ; Stöcker, Tony 3 ; Reuter, Martin 4 ; Holz, Frank G. 5 ; Finger, Robert P. 5 ; Breteler, Monique M. B. 6 

 German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Population Health Sciences, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.424247.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0438 0426); University Hospital Bonn, Department of Ophthalmology, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.15090.3d) (ISNI:0000 0000 8786 803X) 
 German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Population Health Sciences, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.424247.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0438 0426) 
 MR Physics, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.424247.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0438 0426); University of Bonn, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.10388.32) (ISNI:0000 0001 2240 3300) 
 Image Analysis, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.424247.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0438 0426) 
 University Hospital Bonn, Department of Ophthalmology, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.15090.3d) (ISNI:0000 0000 8786 803X) 
 German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Population Health Sciences, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.424247.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0438 0426); University of Bonn, Institute for Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.10388.32) (ISNI:0000 0001 2240 3300) 
Pages
2757
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2629528804
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.