TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlation between brain volume and retinal photoreceptor outer segment volume in normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases
AU - Uchida, Atsuro
AU - Pillai, Jagan A.
AU - Bermel, Robert
AU - Jones, Stephen E.
AU - Fernandez, Hubert
AU - Leverenz, James B.
AU - Srivastava, Sunil K.
AU - Ehlers, Justis P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding support was provided through an unrestricted travel grant provided by Alcon Novartis Hida Memorial Award 2015 funded by Alcon Japan Ltd (AU); NIH/NEI K23-EY022947-01A1 (JPE); Research to Prevent Blindness (Cole Eye Institutional). NIAK23AG055685, Alzheimer Association, Keep Memory Alive Foundation (JAP). The data collection was funded by RPC Grant 2012-1019. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Uchida et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020/9
Y1 - 2020/9
N2 - Purpose To investigate the association between outer retinal layer metrics, including photoreceptor outer segment volume, on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) and brain volume on MRI in normal aging, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Methods This was an exploratory analysis of a cross-sectional cohort study that was approved by the Cleveland Clinic Institutional Review Board to evaluate neurodegenerative disorders. Subjects aged ≥ 50 were recruited. A comprehensive neurological exam, brain MRI with volumetric evaluation, and OCT were performed for each subject. Outer retinal layer parameters, including ellipsoid zone (EZ) to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) volume (i.e., surrogate for panmacular photoreceptor outer segment volume), were evaluated with a novel OCT analysis platform. Results Of 85 subjects, 64 eyes of 64 subjects met MRI and OCT quality control criteria. Total brain volume (%ICV) significantly correlated with EZ-RPE volume in the normal cognition control group (n = 31, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.514, P < .01), the Parkinson’s disease group (n = 19, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.482, P = .04), and the Alzheimer’s dementia group (n = 14, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.526, P = .05). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that photoreceptor outer segment (i.e., EZ-RPE) volume was an independent, influential factor on total brain volume in all study subjects (Coefficient 15.2, 95% confidence interval 7.8–22.6, P < .001). Conclusion Outer retinal parameters on OCT may serve as a novel biomarker related to brain volume. This correlation was noted in control subjects suggesting a possible developmental link between retina and brain volume. This relationship was also maintained with atrophic neurodegenerative disorders. Further research is needed to explore possible threshold differences for underlying neurodegenerative disorders.
AB - Purpose To investigate the association between outer retinal layer metrics, including photoreceptor outer segment volume, on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) and brain volume on MRI in normal aging, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Methods This was an exploratory analysis of a cross-sectional cohort study that was approved by the Cleveland Clinic Institutional Review Board to evaluate neurodegenerative disorders. Subjects aged ≥ 50 were recruited. A comprehensive neurological exam, brain MRI with volumetric evaluation, and OCT were performed for each subject. Outer retinal layer parameters, including ellipsoid zone (EZ) to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) volume (i.e., surrogate for panmacular photoreceptor outer segment volume), were evaluated with a novel OCT analysis platform. Results Of 85 subjects, 64 eyes of 64 subjects met MRI and OCT quality control criteria. Total brain volume (%ICV) significantly correlated with EZ-RPE volume in the normal cognition control group (n = 31, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.514, P < .01), the Parkinson’s disease group (n = 19, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.482, P = .04), and the Alzheimer’s dementia group (n = 14, Pearson correlation coefficient 0.526, P = .05). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that photoreceptor outer segment (i.e., EZ-RPE) volume was an independent, influential factor on total brain volume in all study subjects (Coefficient 15.2, 95% confidence interval 7.8–22.6, P < .001). Conclusion Outer retinal parameters on OCT may serve as a novel biomarker related to brain volume. This correlation was noted in control subjects suggesting a possible developmental link between retina and brain volume. This relationship was also maintained with atrophic neurodegenerative disorders. Further research is needed to explore possible threshold differences for underlying neurodegenerative disorders.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0237078
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0237078
M3 - Article
C2 - 32881874
AN - SCOPUS:85090320428
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 9 September
M1 - e0237078
ER -