RT Journal Article
T1 Early visual alterations in individuals at-risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a multidisciplinary approach
A1 López Cuenca, Inés
A1 Nebreda Pérez, Alberto
A1 García Colomo, Alejandra
A1 García Martín, Elena Salobrar
A1 De Frutos Lucas, Jaisalmer
A1 Bruña Fernández, Ricardo
A1 Ramírez Sebastián, Ana Isabel
A1 Ramírez Toraño, Federico
A1 Salazar Corral, Juan José
A1 Barabash Bustelo, Ana
A1 Gil Gregorio, Pedro
A1 Maestu Unturbe, Fernando
A1 Ramírez Sebastián, José Manuel
A1 Hoz Montañana, María Rosa De
AB Background: The earliest pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) appear decades before the clinical symptoms. The pathology affects the brain and the eye, leading to retinal structural changes and functional visual alterations. Healthy individuals at high risk of developing AD present alterations in these ophthalmological measures, as well as in resting-state electrophysiological activity. However, it is unknown whether the ophthalmological alterations are related to the visual-related electrophysiological activity. Elucidating this relationship is paramount to understand the mechanisms underlying the early deterioration of the system and an important step in assessing the suitability of these measures as early biomarkers of disease.Methods: In total, 144 healthy subjects: 105 with family history of AD and 39 without, underwent ophthalmologic analysis, magnetoencephalography recording, and genotyping. A subdivision was made to compare groups with less demographic and more risk differences: 28 high-risk subjects (relatives/APOEɛ4 +) and 16 low-risk (non-relatives/APOEɛ4 −).Differences in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and macular thickness were evaluated. Correlations between each variable and visual-related electrophysiological measures (M100 latency and time–frequency power) were calculated for each group.Results: High-risk groups showed increased visual acuity. Visual acuity was also related to a lower M100 latency and a greater power time–frequency cluster in the high-risk group. Low-risk groups did not show this relationship. High-risk groups presented trends towards a greater contrast sensitivity that did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons. The highest-risk group showed trends towards the thinning of the inner plexiform and inner nuclear layers that did not remain significant after correction. The correlation between contrast sensitivity and macular thickness, and the electrophysiological measures were not significant after correction. The difference between the high- and low- risk groups correlations was no significant.Conclusions: To our knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind, assessing the relationship between ophthalmological and electrophysiological measures in healthy subjects at distinct levels of risk of AD. The results are novel and unexpected, showing an increase in visual acuity among high-risk subjects, who also exhibit a relationship between this measure and visual-related electrophysiological activity. These results have not been previously explored and could constitute a useful object of research as biomarkers for early detection and the evaluation of potential interventions’ effectiveness.
PB BMC (Springer)
SN 1758-9193
YR 2023
FD 2023-01-23
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72982
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72982
LA eng
NO López Cuenca, I., Nebreda Pérez, A., García Colomo, A. et al. «Early Visual Alterations in Individuals At-Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Multidisciplinary Approach». Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, vol. 15, n.o 1, enero de 2023, p. 19. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-023-01166-0.
NO Received: 08 July 2022; Accepted: 08 January 2023; Published: 24 January 2023
NO Ministerio de Economía, Comercio y Empresa (España)
NO OFTARED/Instituto de Salud Carlos III de España
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO RETIBRAIN
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 11 may 2025