Possible mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction in patients with chronic forms of cerebrovascular diseases

Abstract

Cognitive impairment (CI) is a basis for the clinical presentation of chronic cerebral ischemia (CCI). However, the role of the mechanisms of inflammation and angiogenesis in the origin of CI is unclear, as is its relationship to the number and localization of foci during a neuroimaging examination.Objective: to investigate the relationship between the presence of CI, focal brain tissue changes, and the plasma and serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in patients with CCI.Patients and methods. Examinations were made in 59 patients with CCI and in 20 apparently healthy individuals. The investigators evaluated the cognitive status using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the clock drawing test), performed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), duplex scanning of cerebral vessels, and determined laboratory indicators: the serum levels of MCP-1 and C-reactive protein, and the serum and plasma concentrations of VEGF.Results. The patients with CI were found to have higher values of inflammatory markers, lower serum and plasma concentrations of angiogenic factors, and a greater number of focal changes on MRI than those without CI (5.06±0.23 and 2.36±0.3 scores, respectively; p<0.05). Imbalance of angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors can cause disease progression and moderate vascular CI in patients with CCI.

Keywords

• chronic cerebral ischemia
• angiogenesis
• cognitive impairment
• vascular endothelial growth factor
• monocytic chemoattractant protein-1
• c-reactive protein
• magnetic resonance imaging