The association between cardiovascular risk factors and progressive hippocampus volume loss in persons with Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Background—We performed the current study to test the hypothesis that the aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was associated with a higher rate of volume loss
in the hippocampus and progression of cognitive deficits.
Methods—A total of 103 persons with AD were included (65 men and 38 women, average age of 74.5 ±
0.8 years). All participants underwent 1.5 T structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), at specified
intervals (6 or 12 months) for 2–3 years. We determined the rates of hippocampus, whole brain, ventricle,
middle temporal lobe, fusiform, and entorhinal volume loss (in cubic millimeter/year) for all patients with
AD, separately for 0–6 months, 6–12 months and 0–12, 12–18 and 18–24 months scan intervals.
Results—There were significant differences in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (p = 0.001) and
Alzheimer’s disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) (p = 0.01) scale scores between persons with and without
hypertension and in MMSE (p = 0.04) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) (p = 0.008) scale scores
between persons with and without hyperlipidemia. There were no significant differences in MMSE, ADAS,
and CDR scales scores between persons with and without diabetes mellitus and cigarette smoking. There
were no significant differences in regional brain volume loss in those with or without cardiovascular risk
factors.
Conclusions—Cardiovascular risk factors have a significant influence on the progression of cognitive
deficits in patients with AD. The progression of cognitive deficits in patients with AD is not mediated by
progressive hippocampal volume loss.