Association between 10‐year cardiovascular mortality‐risk and neuroimaging biomarkers in the FINGER trial

Background Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with cognitive decline and dementia. Timely estimation and targeting of cardiovascular risk burden may contribute towards the prevention of cognitive decline. The cardiovascular risk scores of the European Society of Cardiology’s, SCORE (for adults up to 64 years) and SCORE‐OP (for older adults aged 65 years or more), are commonly used tool for estimation of 10‐year CVD mortality and may reflect the impact of cardiovascular risk burden on brain pathology if validated against neuroimaging biomarkers. Method This study investigated associations between (i) baseline SCORE/SCORE‐OP and baseline neuroimaging biomarkers (brain magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and Pittsburgh Compound B‐positron emission tomography [PiB‐PET] measures) (ii) change in SCORE/SCORE‐OP and change in neuroimaging measures during the 2‐year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER). FINGER targeted at‐risk older adults, aged 60‐77 years, from the general population. Participants were randomized to either multidomain intervention (diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk management) or control group (general health advice). Neuroimaging (MRI and PiB‐PET) data from baseline and 2‐year visits were used. A total of 112 participants had repeated brain MRI measures (hippocampus, total grey matter, and white matter lesion volumes, and Alzheimer’s disease signature cortical thickness). Repeated PiB‐PET scans were available for 39 participants. Result Preliminary results suggest that at baseline higher SCORE/SCORE‐OP, indicating increased risk of CVD mortality was significantly associated with lower hippocampus volume (estimate = ‐0.010; p = 0.004), lower total grey matter volume (estimate = ‐0.016; p = 0.007), higher white matter lesion volume (estimate = 0.048; p = 0.015), and lower AD signature cortical thickness (‐0.004; p = 0.048) but not with PiB‐PET. No significant associations were found for change in neuroimaging measures and baseline SCORE/SCORE‐OP or change in SCORE/SCORE‐OP during the 2‐year follow‐up. Conclusion Cardiovascular risk scores need to be validated against different brain pathology markers in diverse populations. This will enable more precise identification and estimation of dementia risk profiles, guiding at‐risk persons to precise intervention strategies, good for both, heart, and brain.