COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW IN CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Introduction:

Cognitive impairment is common in CKD, affecting up to 80% of individuals with CKD. Generally, individuals with cognitive impairment have a lower cerebral blood flow (CBF) than those without cognitive impairment. However, this relationship may not be true for CKD. Individuals with CKD have a higher CBF than those without CKD. The relationship between CBF and cognition in CKD is unknown. 

Methods:

In this single center cross-sectional study, we assessed the association between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), CBF and cognition. We used the NIH Toolbox cognitive battery to assess cognition and diffusion weighted pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (DW-pCASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure CBF. We used scatter plots to visually examine the association between CBF and cognition (Figure 1).

Results:

Thirteen individuals (69.2% female; age: 54.9±10.2 years; ethnicity: 69.2% Caucasian, 23% African American and 7.7% other) with CKD participated in this study. The mean eGFR was 47.5±13.4 mL/min/1.73m2, mean CBF was 75.5±12.3 mL/100 g/min and the mean NIHTB total cognition composite score was 106.8±15.6. We observed that a higher CBF was associated with a lower total cognition composite score (Figure 1).

Conclusions:

This study shows that the association between CBF and cognition is different in individuals with CKD compared to the general population. The etiology of cognitive impairing in CKD may thus be different from that in the general population.

I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.

I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.