Home › Research › Brain scans and imaging
Potential retinal biomarkers for dementia: what is new?
Carol Y Cheung, Victor T T Chan, Vincent C Mok, Christopher Chen, Tien Y Wong. Current opinion in neurology, 2019-02
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize the current findings on clinical retinal diseases and retinal imaging changes with dementia, focusing on Alzheimer's disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies observed that clinical retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, open-angle glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are related to dementia, but the associations are not entirely consistent. In terms of the retinal neuronal structure, multiple retinal neuronal layers are significantly thinner in Alzheimer's disease dementia, such as the parapapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL). Recent studies further demonstrated that macular GC-IPL and macular RNFL are also significantly thinner in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease. A thinner RNFL is also associated with a significantly increased risk of developing both cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease dementia. In addition, studies consistently showed that retinal vascular changes are associated with poorer cognitive performance, as well as prevalent and incident Alzheimer's disease dementia. SUMMARY: The current findings support the concept that changes in the retina, particular in retinal neuronal structure and vasculature, can reflect the status of cerebral neuronal structure and vasculature, highlighting the potential role of retinal changes as biomarkers of dementia.
Key findings
- In terms of the retinal neuronal structure, multiple retinal neuronal layers are significantly thinner in Alzheimer's disease dementia, such as the parapapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL).
- Recent studies further demonstrated that macular GC-IPL and macular RNFL are also significantly thinner in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease.
- A thinner RNFL is also associated with a significantly increased risk of developing both cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease dementia.
- In addition, studies consistently showed that retinal vascular changes are associated with poorer cognitive performance, as well as prevalent and incident Alzheimer's disease dementia.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
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. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Current opinion in neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 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 | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30566412) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 22 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
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
Cheung, C. Y., Chan, V. T. T., Mok, V. C., Chen, C., & Wong, T. Y. (2019). Potential retinal biomarkers for dementia: what is new? Current opinion in neurology. https://doi.org/10.1097/wco.0000000000000645
Vancouver
Cheung CY, Chan VTT, Mok VC, Chen C, Wong TY. Potential retinal biomarkers for dementia: what is new? Current opinion in neurology. 2019. doi:10.1097/wco.0000000000000645. PMID: 30566412.
BibTeX
@article{cheung2019-30566412,
author = {Cheung, Carol Y and Chan, Victor T T and Mok, Vincent C and Chen, Christopher and Wong, Tien Y},
title = {{Potential retinal biomarkers for dementia: what is new?}},
journal = {Current opinion in neurology},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1097/wco.0000000000000645},
pmid = {30566412},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/wco.0000000000000645}
}
Related studies in Brain scans and imaging
Also tagged “coherence-tomography”
151 studies in the library carry the topic tag “coherence-tomography”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 151 tagged studies.