A recent publication in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia provides new insight into how eye health may reflect early risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Researchers from the Jackson Laboratory in Maine (USA) have been investigating the retina, a highly accessible part of the central nervous system, to determine whether changes in retinal blood vessels could serve as early indicators of vascular problems in the brain. The study examined mouse models with the MTHFR 677C>T variant, linked to small-vessel dysfunction, from six to 12 months of age to model early-to-midlife changes and identify retinal vascular alterations preceding neurodegeneration. With early warning signs as a predictor of early vascular dysfunction, the researchers examined the retinae of the mouse models for age-related changes in blood vessel function and structure as well as signs of any inflammation or stress markers, patterns of which are also found in the brain’s blood vessels.
The team found that the mouse models with the gene linked to poor blood vessel health showed evidence of this in their eyes, even before the brain cells displayed any damage. Since eye vessels can show the same problems as the brain, their work shows the potential for capturing subtle, age-related vascular changes that occur before significant neurodegeneration, which is crucial for detecting early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These findings suggest that the retina mirrors early cerebrovascular changes and could be used as a non-invasive biomarker for predicting AD risk. The authors recommend expanding this work to include longitudinal imaging studies, the incorporation of additional dementia-related genetic factors such as amyloid and tau, and the evaluation of retinal vascular health in human populations. Overall, the findings contribute to increasing evidence that maintaining and regularly monitoring vascular health, starting with the eyes, may play an important role in detecting and preventing dementia at an earlier stage. More information on this study is available here:
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.70501