Alterations in Cardiovascular and Cerebral Pulse Wave Velocity in 5XFAD Murine Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

AbstractAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a global health issue, affecting over 6 million in the United States, with that number expected to increase as the aging population grows. As a neurodegenerative disorder that affects memory and cognitive functions, it is well established that AD is associated with cardiovascular risk factors beyond only cerebral decline. Using novel techniques of cerebral and cardiovascular-related pulse wave velocity parameters in 5x transgenic mice with AD, we examined the sex-dependent differences in AD. Specifically, we measured cardiovascular pulse wave velocity parameters, a marker of arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk, and cerebral pulse wave velocity, a novel technique to measure cerebral blood flow. Our results showed that 5x transgenic mice had reduced ejection time, pulse pressure, and Tei index, with slight sex-dependent differences. However, many other cerebral blood flow and pulse wave velocity measurements indicated diet did not significantly alter cardiovascular risk. Beyond this, sex-dependent differences highlight slight cardio-protective effects in female mice in control AD mice; however, these sex-dependent differences must be explored further. Together, these highlighted increased arterial stiffness and cardiovascular Future research may explore how the effects of modifying factors including age, chronic diet, and acute stress, which may further affect the stress-dependent progression of cardiovascular risk in AD.