The evolving landscape of biomarkers for vascular dementia

Abstract

Recent progress in cerebrovascular research has revealed new aspects of the pathogenesis of vascular dementia. Newly uncovered molecular mechanisms underlying the physiological and pathological functions of cerebrovasculature have provided an evolving landscape for understanding the pathogenesis of vascular dementia. These findings have, in turn, promoted the development of biomarkers for predicting, diagnosing, and assessing the severity of vascular dementia. Furthermore, the recent approval of an anti-amyloid antibody treatment against Alzheimer’s disease has brought researchers’ attention to the interplay between Alzheimer’s amyloid-β and cerebrovasculature, as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities occurred in a certain number of patients receiving the therapy. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy, the deposition of amyloid-β in the brain’s blood vessels, may play a role in the interplay between Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. Here, we review recent developments in research on vascular dementia related to the findings concerning imaging, biofluid, and digital biomarkers for diseases.