Associations of inner retinal layers with risk of incident dementia: An individual participant data analysis of four prospective cohort studies

Frank C T van der Heide*, Anthony Khawaja, Tos T J M Berendschot, Thomas J Littlejohns, Elżbieta Kuźma, Robert Luben, Praveen J Patel, Paul J Foster, Carroll Webers, Bram Kroon, Carla van der Kallen, Martinus van Dongen, Simone Eussen, Casper Schalkwijk, Hans Bosma, Sebastian Koehler, Miranda Schram, Gabriëlla Blokland, David Linden, Anke WesseliusMaastricht Study Consortium, Geir Bertelsen, Therese von Hanno, Bente Johnsen, Henrik Schirmer, Sara C L Rebouças, Leslie Grasset, Cécile Delcourt, Catherine Helmer, UK Biobank Eye & Vision Consortium, European Eye Epidemiology (E3) Consortium, Coen D A Stehouwer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Our main objective was to investigate whether retinal neurodegeneration, estimated from lower thickness of inner retinal layers, was associated with incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODS: We performed an individual participant data meta-analysis using unpublished data from four prospective cohort studies with a total of 69,955 participants (n = 1087 cases of incident all-cause dementia; n = 520 cases incident AD; follow-up time median [interquartile range] 11.3 [8.8-11.5] years).

RESULTS: General baseline characteristics of the study population were mean (standard deviation) age, 58.1 (8.8) years; 47% women. After adjustment, lower baseline macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was significantly associated with a 10% and 11% higher incidence of all-cause dementia and AD, respectively. Lower baseline macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness was not significantly associated with these outcomes.

DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that retinal neurodegeneration precedes the onset of clinical dementia. Retinal imaging tools may be informative biomarkers for the study of the early pathophysiology of dementia.

Original languageEnglish
Article number13167
Pages (from-to)211-220
Number of pages10
JournalAlzheimer's & Dementia
Volume20
Issue number1
Early online date8 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

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