AUTHOR=Mustapha Muzaimi , Nassir Che Mohd Nasril Che Mohd , Aminuddin Niferiti , Safri Amanina Ahmad , Ghazali Mazira Mohamad 

TITLE=Cerebral Small Vessel Disease (CSVD) – Lessons From the Animal Models

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.01317

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2019.01317

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) refers to a spectrum of clinical and imaging findings resulted from pathological processes of various aetiologies affecting cerebral arterioles, perforating arteries, capillaries and venules. Unlike large vessels, it is a challenge to visualize small vessels in-vivo hence the difficulty to directly monitor the natural progression of the disease. CSVD might progress for many years during the early stage of the disease as it remains clinically silent (or asymptomatic). Predilection among elderly individuals, CSVD has been alarmingly reported as an important precursor of full-blown stroke and vascular dementia. Growing evidences had also shown significant association between CSVD’s radiological manifestation with dementia and Alzheimer Disease (AD) pathology. Although it remains contentious as to whether CSVD is a cause or sequelae of AD, it is not far-fetched to posit that effective therapeutic measures of CSVD would mitigate the overall burden of dementia. Nevertheless, the unifying theory on the pathomechanism of the disease remains elusive, and hence the lack of effective therapeutic approaches. Thus, this Chapter would consolidate the contemporary insights from numerous experimental animal models of CSVD, to date: from the available experimental animal models of CSVD and its translational research value; the pathomechanism aspects of the disease; relevance aspects on the systems biology; opportunities for early-disease biomarkers; and lastly, converging approaches for future therapeutic directions of CSVD