Foveal Avascular Zone and Choroidal Thickness Are Decreased in Subjects with Hard Drusen and without High Genetic Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease

• Main Authors: Inés López-Cuenca, Rosa de Hoz, Celia Alcántara-Rey, Elena Salobrar-García, Lorena Elvira-Hurtado, José A. Fernández-Albarral, Ana Barabash, Federico Ramírez-Toraño, Jaisalmer de Frutos-Lucas, Juan J. Salazar, Ana I. Ramírez, José M. Ramírez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Biomedicines
• Subjects: Alzheimer’s; family history; ApoE ɛ4; AMD; choroid; foveal avascular zone
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/9/6/638

A family history (FH+) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ɛ4 allele of the ApoE gene are the main genetic risk factors for developing AD, whereas ɛ4 allele plays a protective role in age-related macular degeneration. Ocular vascular changes have been reported in both pathologies. We analyzed the choroidal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) using OCT-angiography and compared the results with ApoE gene expression, AD FH+, and the presence or absence of hard drusen (HD) in 184 cognitively healthy subjects. Choroidal thickness was statistically significantly different in the (FH−, ɛ4−, HD+) group compared with (i) both the (FH−, ɛ4−, HD−) and the (FH+, ɛ4+, HD+) groups in the superior and inferior points at 1500 μm, and (ii) the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD+) group in the superior point at 1500 μm. There were statistically significant differences in the superficial FAZ between the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD+) group and (i) the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD−) group and (ii) the (FH+, ɛ4+, HD−) group. In conclusion, ocular vascular changes are not yet evident in participants with a genetic risk of developing AD.