Association between choroidal microvasculature in the eye and Alzheimer's disease risk in cognitively healthy midlife adults

INTRODUCTION We explored associations between measurements of the ocular choroid microvasculature and Alzheimer’s disease risk. METHODS We measured the choroidal vasculature appearing in optical coherence tomography scans of 69 healthy, mid-life individuals in the PREVENT Dementia cohort. The cohort was prospectively split into low, medium, and high-risk groups based on the presence of known risk factors (APOE4 genotype and family history of dementia). We used ordinal logistic regression to test for cross-sectional associations between choroidal measurements and Alzheimer’s disease risk. RESULTS Choroidal vasculature was progressively larger between ordinal risk groups, and significantly associated with risk group prediction. APOE4 carriers had thicker choroids and larger vascularity compared to non-carriers. Similar trends were observed for those with a family history of dementia. DISCUSSIONS Our results suggest a potential link between the choroidal vasculature and Alzheimer’s disease risk. However, these exploratory findings should be replicated in a larger sample.