Association of peripheral blood pressure with gray matter volume in 19- to 40-year-old adults.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional image-based meta-analysis of four cohorts.
PubMed 30674602 · doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000006947
What was done
Researchers evaluated the association between resting peripheral blood pressure and regional gray matter volume using 3T T1-weighted structural MRI in 423 healthy adults aged 19 to 40 years (mean age 27.7 ± 5.3 years, 177 women, systolic/diastolic BP 123.2/73.4 ± 12.2/8.5 mm Hg) without a prior diagnosis of hypertension. Data from four cross-sectional studies in Leipzig, Germany, were processed with voxel-based morphometry and pooled via image-based meta-analyses. Resting blood pressure was grouped into four categories: (1) SBP <120 and DBP <80 mm Hg; (2) SBP 120-129 or DBP 80-84 mm Hg; (3) SBP 130-139 or DBP 85-89 mm Hg; and (4) SBP ≥140 or DBP ≥90 mm Hg.
What was found
Image-based meta-analysis showed that lower regional gray matter volume correlated with higher peripheral blood pressure across the continuous range. Individuals in subhypertensive categories 2 and 3 had lower gray matter volume compared to category 1. Blood pressure-related gray matter reductions occurred in the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, frontal structures, and parietal structures including the precuneus. Exact effect sizes, voxel counts, and confidence intervals were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
These results indicate that blood pressure-related structural brain changes emerge continuously starting at subhypertensive thresholds (≥120/80 mm Hg) in adults under 40, earlier in the lifespan than previously recognized.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional, precluding causal or temporal conclusions regarding gray matter atrophy. All participants were sampled from a single German metropolitan area, and the abstract provides no information on potential confounding variables such as smoking, physical activity, or metabolic factors, nor any longitudinal cognitive or clinical outcomes.
Cited by
- supports Pre-hypertension is associated with brain atrophy.