Background and aims: According to the original Petersen criteria, we investigated the association between endothelial dysfunction and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). We aimed to verify if endothelial dysfunction occurs in MCI and whether vascular factors are implicated in the MCI pathogenesis.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed on 34 subjects with clinical diagnosis of MCI and 37 controls, older than 60 years. Patients were enrolled from a geriatric outpatient clinic. All the recognized cardiovascular risk factors and an objective state of cognitive impairment were used as exclusion criteria. Cognitive function was evaluated using a scientific-validated neuropsychological battery, whereas MCI was recognized according to the Petersen criteria. Endothelial function was evaluated according to FMD from the brachial artery. The association between FMD and MCI was evaluated both by using a multivariate analysis and a correlation test. Finally, using the ANOVA analysis of variance, we tested the differences in flow-mediated dilation among MCI subgroups.
Results: Brachial FMD was significantly associated with MCI (p < 0.01). The multivariate analysis showed that age, years of education and MMSE independently predicted the FMD variation (r (2) = 0.73; p < 0.0001). In addition, MCI patients with prevalent amnestic multiple domain impairment showed the worst brachial FMD.
Conclusions: This finding suggests that vascular dysfunction may play a role in the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment and underlines the lack of therapeutic strategies targeted to such dysfunctions.