Relationship of retinal capillary plexus and ganglion cell complex with mild cognitive impairment and dementia

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To investigate relationship of the retinal capillary plexus (RCP) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in a community-based study1.

This cross-sectional study incorporated the participants of the Jidong Eye Cohort Study. Optical coherence tomography angiography was performed to obtain RCP vessel density and GCC thickness with detailed segments. The Mini-mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment were used to assess cognitive status by professional neuropsychologists. Participants were thus divided into three groups: normal, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. Multivariable analysis was used to measure relationship of ocular parameters with cognitive impairment.

Of the 2678 participants, the mean age was 44.1 ± 11.7 years. MCI and dementia occurred in 197 (7.4%) and 80 (3%) participants, respectively. Compared to the normal group, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval was 0.76 (0.65–0.90) for the correlation of lower deep RCP with MCI. We found the following items significantly associated with dementia compared with the normal group: a superficial (OR, 0.68 [0.54–0.86]) and deep (OR, 0.75 [0.57–0.99]) RCP, as well as the GCC (OR, 0.68 [0.54–0.85]). Compared to the MCI group, those with dementia had decreased GCC (OR, 0.75 [0.58–0.97]).

Decreased deep RCP density was associated with MCI. Decreased superficial and deep RCP and the thin GCC were correlated with dementia. These implied that the retinal microvasculature may develop into a promising non-invasive imaging marker to predict severity of cognitive impairment.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81900903, 82271047); Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LTGY23H120002, LY22H120007), National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFC2008200, 2019YFC0840708); Research Program of Wenzhou Medical University (XY2022010). The funding or sponsor institution had no role in designing or conducting this research.

National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China

Chunmei Li, Xiaoxuan Zhu, Kai Yang, Ying Ju, Keai Shi, Yunfan Xiao, Binbin Su, Fan Lu, Lele Cui & Ming Li

State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Visual Science, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China

Chunmei Li, Xiaoxuan Zhu, Kai Yang, Ying Ju, Keai Shi, Yunfan Xiao, Binbin Su, Fan Lu, Lele Cui & Ming Li

National Engineering Research Center of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China

Chunmei Li, Xiaoxuan Zhu, Kai Yang, Ying Ju, Keai Shi, Yunfan Xiao, Binbin Su, Fan Lu, Lele Cui & Ming Li

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FL, LC, and ML had organized and theorized the study and explicated the data. CL, KY, KS, YX, and BS play an important part in the obtainment of data. CL and KY analyzed the data. CL, XZ, and YJ drafted the manuscript. FL, LC, and ML modified the manuscript for academic content.

Correspondence to Fan Lu, Lele Cui or Ming Li.

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Li, C., Zhu, X., Yang, K. et al. Relationship of retinal capillary plexus and ganglion cell complex with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Eye (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02592-y

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Received: 28 November 2022

Revised: 08 May 2023

Accepted: 17 May 2023

Published: 03 June 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02592-y

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