Grant: Summer Program in Aging

Growing evidence suggests that diseases of the small vessels that supply blood to the brain can contribute to cognitive decline in later life and possibly predispose the development of other neurodegenerative diseases. However, how disease of small vessels develop and how it harms the brain remains poorly understood. A previous study of my identified a group of lipids (called oxylipins) that are related to the cognitive decline caused by small vessel diseases. In order to better understand the role of oxylipins in harming the small vessels as well as causing cognitive decline, this study aims to examine the relationship between oxylipins and severity of small vessel disease, the relevant cognitive symptoms, as well as the extent of cognitive decline over a year in patients with varying degree of small vessel disease and neurodegenerative diseases. We will undertake this work in three group of patients: 124 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 161 patients with vascular cognitive impairment, and 140 patients with Parkinson's dementia. We will use liquid chromatograph - mass spectrometry / mass spectrometry to quantify the level of oxylipins in blood. We will use magnetic resonance imaging scans to measure the amount of small vessel disease. We will use a battery of tests to assess cognitive performance and disease severity. We hypothesized that certain oxylipins will be relevant to the severity of small vessel disease and the related cognitive decline across the three group of patients. Some oxylipins might be predictive of cognitive decline within patients vascular cognitive impairment over a year. This work is relevant to the health of Canadians as small vessel disease occurs commonly and usually early among the aging population. Knowledge arising from this project will provide new insights into factors cause the cognitive symptoms secondary to the disease and reveal novel drug targets in slowing or preventing cognitive decline in aging.