Advances in retina imaging as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Translational Neurodegeneration

Yanjiang Wang¹  Ce Shi²  Ying Zhang²  Meixiao Shen²  Fan Lu² 

[1] Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 400042, Chongqing, China;School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical College, 325027, Wenzhou, China;

关键词: Alzheimer’s disease;    Mild cognitive impairment;    Optical coherence tomography;    Optical coherence tomography angiography;    Retina;    Biomarkers;    In vivo;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40035-021-00230-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

As the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive impairments and constitutes a major social burden. Currently, the invasiveness and high costs of tests have limited the early detection and intervention of the disease. As a unique window of the brain, retinal changes can reflect the pathology of the brain. In this review, we summarize current understanding of retinal structures in AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and preclinical AD, focusing on neurodegeneration and microvascular changes measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) technologies. The literature suggests that the impairment of retinal microvascular network and neural microstructure exists in AD, MCI and even preclinical AD. These findings provide valuable insights into a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and demonstrate that retinal changes are potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of AD and monitoring of disease progression.

【 授权许可】

CC BY