Decreased Number of Mitochondria in Leukoaraiosis.

OBJECTIVE

Leukoaraiosis (LA), one of the most frequent causes of an age-associated cognitive decline, can be associated with a poor quality of life, leading overall to far-reaching public health problems. Chronic hypoxia of the white matter of the brain may be a factor triggering this entity. LA may develop as a consequence of chronically insufficient cellular energy production and the accumulation of free radicals.

METHODS

In this context, after hypothesizing that the number of healthy mitochondria can be crucial in this complex process, a case-control LA study was carried out in which we analyzed the numbers of deleted and non-deleted mitochondria (the common D-loop deletion) per white blood cell. A total of 234 patients with LA and 123 MRI alteration-free subjects served as a control group.

RESULTS

Interestingly, it emerged that the ratio of deleted relative to non-deleted mitochondria is strongly associated with the risk of LA. The calculated K ratio in the LA group was significantly lower than the K ratio in the controls (LA: K 0.37 95% CI 0.05; controls: K 0.48, 95% CI 0.076, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that the ratio of the dmDNA and mDNA can be of great importance in the pathogenesis of LA.