Plasma Abeta (Amyloid-beta) Levels and Severity and Progression of Small Vessel Disease

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a frequent pathology in aging and contributor to the development of dementia. Plasma Abeta (amyloid beta) levels may be useful as early biomarker, but the role of plasma Abeta in SVD remains to be elucidated. We investigated the association of plasma Abeta levels with severity and progression of SVD markers. METHODS: We studied 487 participants from the RUN DMC study (Radboud University Nijmegen Diffusion Tensor and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Cohort) of whom 258 participants underwent 3 MRI assessments during 9 years. We determined baseline plasma Abeta38, Abeta40, and Abeta42 levels using ELISAs. We longitudinally assessed volume of white matter hyperintensities semiautomatically and manually rated lacunes and microbleeds. We analyzed associations between plasma Abeta and SVD markers by ANCOVA adjusted for age, sex, and hypertension. RESULTS: Cross-sectionally, plasma Abeta40 levels were elevated in participants with microbleeds (mean, 205.4 versus 186.4 pg/mL; P<0.01) and lacunes (mean, 194.8 versus 181.2 pg/mL; P<0.05). Both Abeta38 and Abeta40 were elevated in participants with severe white matter hyperintensities (Abeta38, 25.3 versus 22.7 pg/mL; P<0.01; Abeta40, 201.8 versus 183.3 pg/mL; P<0.05). Longitudinally, plasma Abeta40 levels were elevated in participants with white matter hyperintensity progression (mean, 194.6 versus 182.9 pg/mL; P<0.05). Both Abeta38 and Abeta40 were elevated in participants with incident lacunes (Abeta38, 24.5 versus 22.5 pg/mL; P<0.05; Abeta40, 194.9 versus 181.2 pg/mL; P<0.01) and Abeta42 in participants with incident microbleeds (62.8 versus 60.4 pg/mL; P