TY - JOUR

T1 - Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Neurovascular Coupling in Multiple Sclerosis — A Systematic Review

AU - Vestergaard, Mark B.

AU - Frederiksen, Jette L.

AU - Larsson, Henrik B. W.

AU - Cramer, Stig P.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Vestergaard, Frederiksen, Larsson and Cramer.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The inflammatory processes observed in the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis (MS) could damage the endothelium of the cerebral vessels and lead to a dysfunctional regulation of vessel tonus and recruitment, potentially impairing cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and neurovascular coupling (NVC). Impaired CVR or NVC correlates with declining brain health and potentially plays a causal role in the development of neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, we examined studies on CVR or NVC in MS patients to evaluate the evidence for impaired cerebrovascular function as a contributing disease mechanism in MS. Twenty-three studies were included (12 examined CVR and 11 examined NVC). Six studies found no difference in CVR response between MS patients and healthy controls. Five studies observed reduced CVR in patients. This discrepancy can be because CVR is mainly affected after a long disease duration and therefore is not observed in all patients. All studies used CO2 as a vasodilating stimulus. The studies on NVC demonstrated diverse results; hence a conclusion that describes all the published observations is difficult to find. Future studies using quantitative techniques and larger study samples are needed to elucidate the discrepancies in the reported results.

AB - The inflammatory processes observed in the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis (MS) could damage the endothelium of the cerebral vessels and lead to a dysfunctional regulation of vessel tonus and recruitment, potentially impairing cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and neurovascular coupling (NVC). Impaired CVR or NVC correlates with declining brain health and potentially plays a causal role in the development of neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, we examined studies on CVR or NVC in MS patients to evaluate the evidence for impaired cerebrovascular function as a contributing disease mechanism in MS. Twenty-three studies were included (12 examined CVR and 11 examined NVC). Six studies found no difference in CVR response between MS patients and healthy controls. Five studies observed reduced CVR in patients. This discrepancy can be because CVR is mainly affected after a long disease duration and therefore is not observed in all patients. All studies used CO2 as a vasodilating stimulus. The studies on NVC demonstrated diverse results; hence a conclusion that describes all the published observations is difficult to find. Future studies using quantitative techniques and larger study samples are needed to elucidate the discrepancies in the reported results.

KW - cerebral blood flow (CBF)

KW - cerebrovascular disease

KW - cerebrovascular hemodynamics

KW - cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR)

KW - multiple sclerosis

KW - neurovascular coupling (NVC)

U2 - 10.3389/fneur.2022.912828

DO - 10.3389/fneur.2022.912828

M3 - Review

C2 - 35720104

AN - SCOPUS:85132802054

VL - 13

JO - Frontiers in Neurology

JF - Frontiers in Neurology

SN - 1664-2295

M1 - 912828

ER -