Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Adults With Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) patients show brain tissue injury in sites that mediate autonomic, cognitive, and mood dysfunctions that are linked with increased morbidity and mortality. The pathological mechanisms that may contribute to brain tissue injury in HF are unclear, but may include blood brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction.

We performed diffusion-weighted pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (DW-pCASL) in 27 HF and 59 controls to examine BBB, using a 3.0-Tesla MRI scanner, and assessed anxiety, depressive symptoms, and cognition. Using DW-pCASL data, arterial transit time (ATT, an index of large artery integrity) and water exchange rates across the BBB (Kw, an index of BBB function) maps were generated, normalized, smoothed, and compared between HF and controls, and correlated with cognition and mood.

Significantly increased mood deficits and reduced cognition appeared in HF over controls. Multiple brain areas, which are involved in mediating cognition and mood, showed altered Kw and ATT values in HF over controls. Increased Kw emerged in the insula, hippocampus, and cerebellum. ATT values decreased in the prefrontal cortices, cingulate, and cerebellum, and increased in a few sites in HF patients. Kw values from regions that are involved in mood and cognition functions showed significant associations with anxiety, depression, and cognition.

HF patients show impaired BBB function and altered large artery integrity. BBB alterations may introduce neural damage to autonomic, mood, and cognitive regulatory areas, contributing to abnormal functions found in HF. The findings suggest a need to repair BBB function to rescue brain tissue and functions in this condition.