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Imaging Vascular Disease and Amyloid in the Aging Brain: Implications for Treatment
Villeneuve S, Jagust WJ.. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease, 2015-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Vascular risk factors (e.g. hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes) are well known risk factors for Alzheimer' disease. These vascular risk factors lead to vascular brain injuries, which also increase the likelihood of dementia. The advent of amyloid PET imaging has helped establish that vascular risk factors also lead to Alzheimer's disease via pathways that are independent from vascular brain injuries, at least, when vascular brain injuries are measured as white matter lesions and infarcts. While vascular brain injuries (white matter lesions and infarcts) do not seem to influence amyloid pathology, some evidence from amyloid imaging suggests that increased vascular risk is related to increased amyloid burden. Furthermore, while vascular brain injuries and amyloid have an additive and independent impact on brain integrity, vascular risk factors might potentiate the impact of amyloid on cortical thickness on brain regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease. New research should further explore and confirm, or refute, possible interactions between amyloid and vascular risk factors on brain integrity and cognition. Neuroimaging tools used to assess vascular brain integrity should also be expanded. Measuring cortical blood flow or damage to the capillary system might, for instance, give insight about how vascular risk factors can be associated to amyloid burden and impact. These findings also stress the need for monitoring vascular risk factors in midlife as a strategy for Alzheimer's disease prevention.
Key findings
- While vascular brain injuries (white matter lesions and infarcts) do not seem to influence amyloid pathology, some evidence from amyloid imaging suggests that increased vascular risk is related to increased amyloid burden.
- These findings also stress the need for monitoring vascular risk factors in midlife as a strategy for Alzheimer's disease prevention.
Why it matters
This review discusses how vascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes relate to amyloid burden and brain integrity, and notes that vascular brain injuries and amyloid appear to affect the brain independently and additively. It stresses monitoring vascular risk factors in midlife as a prevention strategy, but presents no new trial results.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 34/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 63 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 35 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 2.7 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 6 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author William J. Jagust: h-index 21 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, Berkeley: institution h-index 2,012 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25844350) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 34 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Villeneuve, S., & Jagust, W. J. (2015). Imaging Vascular Disease and Amyloid in the Aging Brain: Implications for Treatment. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease. https://doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2015.47
Vancouver
Villeneuve S, Jagust WJ. Imaging Vascular Disease and Amyloid in the Aging Brain: Implications for Treatment. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease. 2015. doi:10.14283/jpad.2015.47. PMID: 25844350.
BibTeX
@article{villeneuve2015-25844350,
author = {Villeneuve, S. and Jagust, W. J.},
title = {{Imaging Vascular Disease and Amyloid in the Aging Brain: Implications for Treatment}},
journal = {The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.14283/jpad.2015.47},
pmid = {25844350},
url = {https://doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2015.47}
}
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