OCT-derived Retinal Measures Correlate With Brain-predicted Age, Neurodegeneration, and Disease Progression in Multiple Sclerosis
Anas Nourelden1, Fen Bao1, Zaima Liaquat1, Carla Santiago-Martinez1, Anza Memon2
1Neurology, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, 2John D. Dingell, VAMC; Wayne State University, School of Medicine
Objective:
To investigate associations between brain-predicted age, age gap (BA-CA), and OCT-derived retinal measures in MS patients.
Background:
Brain aging and neurodegeneration are hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS), often accompanied by structural changes in the retina. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides a non-invasive tool to assess retinal thinning, which may serve as a biomarker for neurodegeneration. This study investigates the relationship between chronological age (CA), brain-predicted age (BA), and retinal measures in MS patients, aiming to identify key correlations that could inform disease progression and treatment response.
Design/Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, 98 MS patients underwent whole-brain MRI scans on a SIEMENS 3T system and OCT scans on a Heidelberg SPECTRALIS platform. 3D T1-weighted images were processed with the brainageR package using Gaussian process regression to estimate BA. Spearman’s correlation using SPSS (v29) was used to assess relationships between CA, BA, age gap, and multiple OCT parameters.
Results:
Significant negative correlations were observed between BA and retinal measures, including global retinal thickness (G) (r=-0.299, p=0.004), papillomacular bundle thickness (PMB) (r=-0.340, p=0.001), retinal nerve fiber layer volume (RNFL) (r=-0.256, p=0.014), and ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer thickness (GCIPL) (r=-0.285, p=0.006). Age gap was also negatively associated with G (r=-0.266, p=0.011), PMB (r=-0.373, p<0.001), RNFL (r=-0.264, p=0.011), and GCIPL (r=-0.275, p=0.008). Higher EDSS scores were significantly associated with reduced temporal thickness (r=-0.236, p=0.025) and RNFL thickness (r=-0.246, p=0.020), suggesting that some retinal structural changes parallel clinical disability in MS.
Conclusions:
Faster brain aging, as indicated by a larger age gap, is associated with significant retinal thinning across multiple OCT parameters, which also correlate with EDSS in MS patients. These findings support the use of OCT-derived retinal measures as potential biomarkers for brain aging and neurodegeneration in MS. Further studies are warranted to validate these results and explore their utility in monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy.
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