Background: This study aimed to examine the association of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] level with the burden of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Methods: Data from 111 consecutive patients with AD admitted to Nanjing First Hospital from 2015 to 2022 were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Serum Lp(a) concentrations were grouped into tertiles (T1-T3). Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was rated for the presence of CSVD, including enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS), lacunes, white-matter lesions, and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs). The CSVD burden was calculated by summing the scores of each MRI marker at baseline. A binary or ordinal logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship of serum Lp(a) levels with CSVD burden and each MRI marker.
Results: Patients with higher tertiles of Lp(a) levels were less likely to have any CSVD (T1, 94.6%; T2, 78.4%; T3, 66.2%; p = 0.013). Multivariable analysis found that Lp(a) levels were inversely associated with the presence of CSVD (T2 vs. T1: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.132, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.018-0.946, p = 0.044; T3 vs. T1: aOR 0.109, 95% CI 0.016-0.737, p = 0.023) and CSVD burden (T3 vs. T1: aOR 0.576, 95% CI 0.362-0.915, p = 0.019). The independent relationship between Lp(a) levels and individual CSVD features was significant for moderate-to-severe EPVS in the centrum semiovale (T2 vs. T1: aOR 0.059, 95% CI 0.006-0.542, p = 0.012; T3 vs. T1: aOR 0.029, 95% CI 0.003-0.273, p = 0.002) and CMBs (T3 vs. T1: aOR 0.144, 95% CI 0.029-0.716, p = 0.018).
Conclusions: In this study, serum Lp(a) level was inversely associated with CSVD in AD patients.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cerebral small vessel disease; lipoprotein(a).