Dislipidemia is a risk factor for cognitive impairment. We studied the association between interindividual variability of plasma lipids and white matter (WM) microstructure, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 273 healthy adults. Special focus was placed on 7 regions of interest (ROI) which are structural components of cognitive neurocircuitry. We also investigated the effect of plasma lipids on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light chain (NfL), an axonal degeneration marker. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglyceride (TG) levels showed a negative association with axial diffusivity (AxD) in multiple regions. High density lipoproteins (HDL) showed a positive correlation. The association was independent of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, blood pressure or use of statins. LDL moderated the relation between NfL and AxD in the body of the corpus callosum (p = 0.041), right cingulum gyrus (p = 0.041), right fornix/stria terminalis (p = 0.025) and right superior longitudinal fasciculus (p = 0.020) and TG in the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (p = 0.004) and left fornix/stria terminalis (p = 0.001). We conclude that plasma lipids are associated to WM microstructural changes and axonal degeneration and might represent a risk factor in the transition from healthy aging to disease.

血脂异常是认知障碍的危险因素。我们使用扩散张量成像（DTI）在273名健康成年人中研究了血浆脂质的个体间变异性与白质（WM）微观结构之间的关联。特别关注的是7个感兴趣的区域（ROI），它们是认知神经回路的结构组件。我们还研究了血浆脂质对轴突变性标记物脑脊髓液（CSF）神经丝轻链（NfL）的影响。低密度脂蛋白（LDL）和甘油三酸酯（TG）水平在多个区域与轴向扩散率（AxD）呈负相关。高密度脂蛋白（HDL）显示正相关。该关联与载脂蛋白E（APOE）基因型，血压或他汀类药物的使用无关。p  = 0.041），右扣带回（p值= 0.041），右穹窿/终纹（p  = 0.025）和右上纵束（p  = 0.020）和TG在右下纵束（p  = 0.004）和左穹窿/ stria terminalis（p  = 0.001）。我们得出结论，血浆脂质与WM的微结构变化和轴突变性有关，并且可能代表了从健康衰老到疾病过渡的危险因素。