Coronary artery disease and its impact on the pulsatile brain: A functional NIRS study

• Main Authors: Bherer, L. (Author), Fraser, S. (Author), Gayda, M. (Author), Joanette, Y. (Author), Lesage, F. (Author), Mohammadi, H. (Author), Nigam, A. (Author), Peng, K. (Author), Vincent, T. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley and Sons Inc 2021
• Subjects: acetylsalicylic acid; adult; aged; Aged; angiotensin receptor antagonist; Article; beta adrenergic receptor blocking agent; brain circulation; brain function; calcium antagonist; cardiorespiratory fitness; cardiovascular risk factor; cardiovascular risk factors; cerebral pulsatility; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Cerebrum; controlled study; coronary artery disease; Coronary Artery Disease; diagnostic imaging; dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase inhibitor; female; Female; functional neuroimaging; Functional Neuroimaging; hemodynamics; human; Humans; leisure; major clinical study; male; Male; middle aged; Middle Aged; near infrared spectroscopy; near-infrared spectroscopy; older adults; pathophysiology; physiology; prefrontal cortex; Pulse; pulse rate; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; walking
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Recent studies have reported that optical indices of cerebral pulsatility are associated with cerebrovascular health in older adults. Such indices, including cerebral pulse amplitude and the pulse relaxation function (PRF), have been previously applied to quantify global and regional cerebral pulsatility. The aim of the present study was to determine whether these indices are modulated by cardiovascular status and whether they differ between individuals with low or high cardiovascular risk factors (LCVRF and HCVRF) and coronary artery disease (CAD). A total of 60 older adults aged 57–79 were enrolled in the study. Participants were grouped as LCVRF, HCVRF, and CAD. Participants were asked to walk freely on a gym track while a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device recorded hemodynamics data. Low-intensity, short-duration walking was used to test whether a brief cardiovascular challenge could increase the difference of pulsatility indices with respect to cardiovascular status. Results indicated that CAD individuals have higher global cerebral pulse amplitude compared with the other groups. Walking reduced global cerebral pulse amplitude and PRF in all groups but did not increase the difference across the groups. Instead, walking extended the spatial distribution of cerebral pulse amplitude to the anterior prefrontal cortex when CAD was compared to the CVRF groups. Further research is needed to determine whether cerebral pulse amplitude extracted from data acquired with NIRS, which is a noninvasive, inexpensive method, can provide an index to characterize the cerebrovascular status associated with CAD. © 2021 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.