The association of pre-operative biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction with the risk of post-operative neurocognitive disorders: results from the BioCog study

Sara Moazzen, Jürgen Janke, Arjen J C Slooter, Georg Winterer, Claudia Spies, Tobias Pischon, Insa Feinkohl*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) promotes the development of atherosclerosis, and studies suggest an association with age-related neurocognitive disorders. It is currently unclear whether ED is also associated with the risk of perioperative neurocognitive disorders.

METHOD: We included 788 participants aged ≥ 65 years of the BioCog study. Patients were scheduled to undergo elective surgery with expected duration > 60 min. Blood was collected before surgery for measurement of 5 biomarkers of ED: asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA; SDMA), intercellular and vascular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1, VCAM-1), and von Willebrand factor (vWF). Patients were monitored for the occurrence of postoperative delirium (POD) daily until the 7th postoperative day. 537 (68.1%) patients returned for a 3-month follow-up. Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) was defined from the change in results on a battery of 6 neuropsychological tests between baseline and 3 months, compared to the change in results of a control group during the 3-month interval. The associations of each of the 5 ED biomarkers with POD and POCD respectively were determined using multiple logistic regression analyses with adjustment for age, sex, surgery type, pre-morbid IQ, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, HbA1C, triglyceride, total and HDL cholesterol.

RESULTS: 19.8% of 788 patients developed POD; 10.1% of 537 patients had POCD at 3 months. Concentrations of ED biomarkers were not significantly associated with a POD. A higher VCAM-1 concentration was associated with a reduced POCD risk (adjusted odds ratio 0.55; 95% CI: 0.35-0.86). No further statistically significant results were found.

CONCLUSION: Pre-operative concentrations of ED biomarkers were not associated with POD risk. We unexpectedly found higher VCAM-1 to be associated with a reduced POCD risk. Further studies are needed to evaluate these findings.

Original languageEnglish
Article number358
JournalBMC Anesthesiology
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Biomarkers
  • Cognitive dysfunction
  • Endothelial dysfunction
  • Endothelial function
  • Neuropsychological tests
  • Postoperative cognitive complications
  • Postoperative cognitive dysfunction
  • Postoperative delirium
  • Surgery

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