Reduced global brain metabolism but maintained vascular function in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Binu P. Thomas, Min Sheng, Benjamin Y. Tseng, Takashi Tarumi, Kristen Martin-Cook, Kyle B. Womack, Munro C. Cullum, Benjamin D. Levine, Rong Zhang, Hanzhang Lu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment represents an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease, and characterization of physiological alterations in mild cognitive impairment is an important step toward accurate diagnosis and intervention of this condition. To investigate the extent of neurodegeneration in patients with mild cognitive impairment, whole-brain cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in absolute units of mmol O2/min/100 g was quantified in 44 amnestic mild cognitive impairment and 28 elderly controls using a novel, non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging method. We found a 12.9% reduction (p = 0.004) in cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in mild cognitive impairment, which was primarily attributed to a reduction in the oxygen extraction fraction, by 10% (p = 0.016). Global cerebral blood flow was not found to be different between groups. Another aspect of vascular function, cerebrovascular reactivity, was measured by CO2-inhalation magnetic resonance imaging and was found to be equivalent between groups. Therefore, there seems to be a global, diffuse diminishment in neural function in mild cognitive impairment, while their vascular function did not show a significant reduction.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1508-1516
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
Volume37
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen
  • Cerebrovascular reactivity
  • Elderly controls
  • Mild cognitive impairment
  • Oxygen extraction fraction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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