Abstract

Having a family history (FH+) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and being a carrier of at least one ε4 allele of the ApoE gene are two of the main risk factors for the development of AD. AD and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) share one of the main risk factors, such as age, and characteristics including the presence of deposits (Aβ plaques in AD and drusen in AMD); however, the role of apolipoprotein E isoforms in both pathologies is controversial. We analyzed and characterized retinal drusen by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in subjects, classifying them by their AD FH (FH-or FH+) and their allelic characterization of ApoE ε4 (ApoE ε4-or ApoE ε4+) and considering cardiovascular risk factors (hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus). In addition, we analyzed the choroidal thickness by OCT and the area of the foveal avascular zone with OCTA. We did not find a relationship between a family history of AD or any of the ApoE isoforms and the presence or absence of drusen. Subjects with drusen show choroidal thinning compared to patients without drusen, and thinning could trigger changes in choroidal perfusion that may give rise to the deposits that generate drusen.

RAS ID

52671

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

5-1-2022

Volume

12

Issue

5

Funding Information

Ophthalmological Network OFTARED (RD16/0008/0005) of the Institute of Health of Carlos III of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation / Further funding information available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12050847

School

Centre for Precision Health

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publisher

MDPI

Comments

López-Cuenca, I., Salobrar-García, E., Gil-Salgado, I., Sánchez-Puebla, L., Elvira-Hurtado, L., Fernández-Albarral, J. A., ... & de Hoz, R. (2022). Characterization of retinal drusen in subjects at high genetic risk of developing sporadic Alzheimer’s disease: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12050847

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.3390/jpm12050847