Cardiopulmonary Fitness Correlates with Regional Cerebral Grey Matter Perfusion and Density in Men with Coronary Artery Disease

PURPOSE: Physical activity is associated with positive effects on the brain but there is a paucity of clinical neuroimaging data in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), a cardiovascular condition associated with grey matter loss. The purpose of this study was to determine which brain regions are impacted by cardiopulmonary fitness and with the change in fitness after 6 months of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS: CAD patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, and peak volume of oxygen uptake during exercise testing (VO(2Peak)) was measured at baseline and after 6 months of training. T1-weighted structural images were used to perform grey matter (GM) voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pcASL) was used to produce cerebral blood flow (CBF) images. VBM and CBF data were tested voxel-wise using VO(2Peak) and age as explanatory variables. RESULTS: In 30 men with CAD (mean age 65±7 years), VBM and CBF identified 7 and 5 respective regions positively associated with baseline VO(2Peak). These included the pre- and post-central, paracingulate, caudate, hippocampal regions and converging findings in the putamen. VO(2Peak) increased by 20% at follow-up in 29 patients (t = 9.6, df = 28, p<0.0001). Baseline CBF in the left post-central gyrus and baseline GM density in the right putamen predicted greater change in VO(2Peak). CONCLUSION: Perfusion and GM density were associated with fitness at baseline and with greater fitness gains with exercise. This study identifies new neurobiological correlates of fitness and demonstrates the utility of multi-modal MRI to evaluate the effects of exercise in CAD patients.