Diagnostic and prognostic blood biomarkers in vascular dementia: From the viewpoint of ischemic stroke

Reliable quantitative blood biomarkers are important in vascular dementia (VaD) because early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention are effective in preventing progression of dementia. Although many blood biomarkers for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or VaD have been reported, there are few reliable blood biomarkers. VaD and AIS have similar pathological conditions that are associated with small vessel disease (SVD) such as oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and neuronal injury. Therefore, it may be possible to find superior blood biomarkers of VaD among AIS blood biomarkers. Owing to recent developments, noncoding RNAs such as microRNA and long noncoding RNA, which can be analyzed using a single drop of blood, are also particularly reliable VaD markers because they stably reflect brain tissue damage. A multimarker combining several blood biomarkers or artificial intelligence technology may also be beneficial to compensate for insufficiencies of a single blood biomarker. This review describes the blood biomarkers of VaD and how they are related to blood biomarkers of AIS.

Automated summary

Reliable blood biomarkers are crucial in the early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of vascular dementia (VaD) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Both VaD and AIS share similar pathological conditions, and superior VaD blood biomarkers may be found among AIS blood biomarkers. Noncoding RNAs such as microRNA and long noncoding RNA, which can be analyzed using a single drop of blood, are particularly reliable VaD markers that reflect brain tissue damage.