In addition to Gold, several others from UK contributed to the research including Dr. Gregory Jicha, professor in the department of Neurology and SBCoA, Donna Wilcock, Ph.D., professor in the department of Physiology and SBCoA, Tiffany Sudduth and Elayna Seago.

Results from the UK-USC study also support growing evidence that BBB dysfunction may represent a link between SVD and clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Excess accumulation of Aβ is a hallmark feature of individuals who receive a clinical diagnosis of AD. However, Aβ pathology is also seen in many cases of SVD. Results from the UK-USC study are consistent with theories suggesting that insufficient clearance of Aβ through the BBB may impair BBB function which, in turn, may further accelerate accumulation of Aβ in the brain. Gold noted that "an important topic for future research is why some individuals with BBB dysfunction and impaired Aβ clearance may develop cognitive declines associated with AD while others develop more vascular-like cognitive declines."


Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AG055449, National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number S10OD023573, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers UH3-NS100614 and R01NS114382, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01EB028297.The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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