Cardiometabolic risk factors predict cerebrovascular health in older adults: results from the Brain in Motion study

Aging and physical inactivity are associated with an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). With the rising prevalence of MetS, it is important to determine the extent to which it affects cerebrovascular health. The primary purpose of this report is to examine the impact of MetS on cerebrovascular health (resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) peak velocity (V¯P), cerebrovascular conductance (CVC), and CBF responses to hypercapnia) in healthy older adults with normal cognition. A secondary goal was to examine the influence of apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 expression on these indices. In a sample of 258 healthy men and women older than 53 years, 29.1% met criteria for MetS. MetS, sex, and age were found to be significant predictors of CVC, and V¯P, MetS, and APOE status were significant predictors of V¯P‐reactivity, and CVC‐reactivity was best predicted by MetS status. After controlling for these factors, participants with MetS demonstrated lower cerebrovascular measures (CVC, V¯P, CVC‐reactivity, and V¯P‐reactivity) compared to participants without MetS. APOE ε4 carriers had higher V¯P‐reactivity than noncarriers. These results provide evidence that cardiometabolic and vascular risk factors clustered together as the MetS predict measures of cerebrovascular health indices in older adults. Higher V¯P‐reactivity in APOE ε4 carriers suggests vascular compensation for deleterious effects of this known risk allele for Alzheimer's disease and stroke. In a cross‐sectional study of healthy adults over the age of 53 years, we demonstrate that participants with metabolic syndrome (MetS) had worse indices of cerebrovascular health than participants without MetS. These indices include lower resting cerebral blood flow, and lower cerebrovascular conductance and reactivity (i.e., the capacity of cerebral blood vessels to increase their blood supply with increasing demand). These results suggest that cardiometabolic risk factors clustered around MetS predict cerebrovascular health indices in healthy older adults.