Higher baseline cerebrospinal fluid platelet‐derived growth factor receptor‐β levels are associated with slower reductions in longitudinal cerebral blood flow among cognitively unimpaired individuals
Authors: Moore Elizabeth E. , Zhang Panpan , Pechman Kimberly R. , Liu Dandan , Houston Michelle L , Shashikumar Niranjana , Davis L. Taylor , Archer Derek B. , Gifford Katherine A. , Landman Bennett A. , Blennow Kaj , Zetterberg Henrik , Hohman Timothy J. , Jefferson Angela L. 
Published: December 2023

Background

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) platelet‐derived growth factor receptor‐β (PDGFR‐β) is an emerging biomarker hypothesized to reflect pericyte damage. CSF PDGFR‐β levels are increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but it is unknown if pericyte injury contributes to cerebrovascular changes common in AD. We examined if PDGFR‐β relates to changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and white matter injury in older adults.

Method

Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project participants (n = 152, baseline age 73±7 years, 43% mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) underwent baseline lumbar puncture and serial brain MRI over a 7‐year (5.5±2.3) follow‐up period. CSF PDGFR‐β concentrated was measured by immunoassay. MRI included pseudo‐continuous arterial spin‐labeling to quantify CBF, T2‐FLAIR to quantify white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to quantify white matter microstructural integrity. Ordinary least squares regression and linear mixed‐effects models related baseline CSF PDGFR‐β to baseline and longitudinal whole brain and regional CBF, WMH, and DTI metrics, adjusting for baseline demographic variables, modified Framingham Stroke Risk Profile, cognitive status, apolipoprotein‐ε4 status, and regional tissue volume. Longitudinal models adjusted for follow‐up time. Follow‐up models tested a CSF PDGFR‐β x cognitive status interaction.

Result

In main models, higher CSF PDGFR‐β levels were cross‐sectionally associated with lower mean diffusivity (indicating better microstructural integrity) in white matter tracts in the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes (p‐values<0.03) but were unrelated to WMHs (p‐values>0.18). Models investigating associations with longitudinal white matter variables were null (p‐values>0.35). CSF PDGFR‐β cross‐sectionally interacted with diagnosis on temporal lobe CBF, such that higher CSF PDGFR‐β related to higher CBF in MCI participants (p = 0.01). In longitudinal models, baseline CSF PDGFR‐β interacted with cognitive status on whole brain and occipital lobe CBF (p‐values<0.04). Stratified models showed higher baseline CSF PDGFR‐β related slower reductions in longitudinal CBF in whole brain (p = 0.02), frontal (p = 0.04), temporal (p = 0.02), parietal (p = 0.01), and occipital lobes (p = 0.008) in cognitively unimpaired participants only.

Conclusion

Among older adults, higher CSF PDGFR‐β levels are associated with better white matter integrity at study entry and predict slower reductions in longitudinal CBF among cognitively unimpaired individuals. Results suggest that higher PDGFR‐β levels may reflect subclinical vascular remodeling that provides protection to future cerebrovascular compromise.