| 1. |
- de Rojas, I., et al.
(författare)
-
Common variants in Alzheimer’s disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer’s disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer’s disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease. © 2021, The Author(s).
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Assogna, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Association of Choroid Plexus Volume With Serum Biomarkers, Clinical Features, and Disease Severity in Patients With Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Spectrum
- 2023
-
Ingår i: NEUROLOGY. - 0028-3878. ; 101:12, s. E1218-E1230
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and ObjectivesChoroid plexus (ChP) is emerging as a key brain structure in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders. In this observational study, we investigated ChP volume in a large cohort of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum to explore a possible link between ChP volume and other disease-specific biomarkers.MethodsParticipants included patients meeting clinical criteria for a probable syndrome in the FTLD spectrum. Structural brain MRI imaging, serum neurofilament light (NfL), serum phosphorylated-Tau181 (p-Tau181), and cognitive and behavioral data were collected. MRI ChP volumes were obtained from an ad-hoc segmentation model based on a Gaussian Mixture Models algorithm.ResultsThree-hundred and sixteen patients within FTLD spectrum were included in this study, specifically 135 patients diagnosed with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 75 primary progressive aphasia, 46 progressive supranuclear palsy, and 60 corticobasal syndrome. In addition, 82 age-matched healthy participants were recruited as controls (HCs). ChP volume was significantly larger in patients with FTLD compared with HC, across the clinical subtype. Moreover, we found a significant difference in ChP volume between HC and patients stratified for disease-severity based on CDR plus NACC FTLD, including patients at very early stage of the disease. Interestingly, ChP volume correlated with serum NfL, cognitive/behavioral deficits, and with patterns of cortical atrophy. Finally, ChP volume seemed to discriminate HC from patients with FTLD better than other previously identified brain structure volumes.DiscussionConsidering the clinical, pathologic, and genetic heterogeneity of the disease, ChP could represent a potential biomarker across the FTLD spectrum, especially at the early stage of disease. Further longitudinal studies are needed to establish its role in disease onset and progression.Classification of EvidenceThis study provides Class III evidence that choroid plexus volume, as measured on MRI scan, can assist in differentiating patients with FTLD from healthy controls and in characterizing disease severity.
|
|
| 4. |
- Benussi, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Classification accuracy of blood-based and neurophysiological markers in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Alzheimers Research & Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 14:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background In the last decade, non-invasive blood-based and neurophysiological biomarkers have shown great potential for the discrimination of several neurodegenerative disorders. However, in the clinical workup of patients with cognitive impairment, it will be highly unlikely that any biomarker will achieve the highest potential predictive accuracy on its own, owing to the multifactorial nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Methods In this retrospective study, performed on 202 participants, we analysed plasma neurofilament light (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and tau phosphorylated at amino acid 181 (p-Tau(181)) concentrations, as well as amyloid beta 42 to 40 ratio (A beta(1-42)/(1-40)) ratio, using the ultrasensitive single-molecule array (Simoa) technique, and neurophysiological measures obtained by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), including short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), intracortical facilitation (ICF), long-interval intracortical inhibition (LICI), and short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI). We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of combinations of both plasma and neurophysiological biomarkers in the differential diagnosis between healthy ageing, AD, and FTLD. Results We observed significant differences in plasma NfL, GFAP, and p-Tau(181) levels between the groups, but not for the A beta(1-42)/A beta(1-40) ratio. For the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy, we adopted a two-step process which reflects the clinical judgement on clinical grounds. In the first step, the best single biomarker to classify "cases" vs "controls" was NfL (AUC 0.94, p < 0.001), whilst in the second step, the best single biomarker to classify AD vs FTLD was SAI (AUC 0.96, p < 0.001). The combination of multiple biomarkers significantly increased diagnostic accuracy. The best model for classifying "cases" vs "controls" included the predictors p-Tau(181), GFAP, NfL, SICI, ICF, and SAI, resulting in an AUC of 0.99 (p < 0.001). For the second step, classifying AD from FTD, the best model included the combination of A beta(1-42)/A beta(1-40) ratio, p-Tau(181), SICI, ICF, and SAI, resulting in an AUC of 0.98 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The combined assessment of plasma and neurophysiological measures may greatly improve the differential diagnosis of AD and FTLD.
|
|
| 5. |
- Benussi, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Differences and similarities between familial and sporadic frontotemporal dementia: An Italian single-center cohort study
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Alzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions. - : Wiley. - 2352-8737. ; 8:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction The possibility to generalize our understandings on treatments and assessments to both familial frontotemporal dementia (f-FTD) and sporadic FTD (s-FTD) is a fundamental perspective for the near future, considering the constant advancement in potential disease-modifying therapies that target particular genetic forms of FTD. We aimed to investigate differences in clinical features, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and blood-based biomarkers between f-FTD and s-FTD. Methods In this longitudinal cohort study, we evaluated a consecutive sample of symptomatic FTD patients, classified as f-FTD and s-FTD according to Goldman scores (GS). All patients underwent clinical, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric symptom assessment, CSF biomarkers and serum neurofilament light (NfL) analysis, and brain atrophy evaluation with magnetic resonance imaging. Results Of 570 patients with FTD, 123 were classified as f-FTD, and 447 as s-FTD. In the f-FTD group, 95 had a pathogenic FTD mutation while 28 were classified as GS = 1 or 2; of the s-FTD group, 133 were classified as GS = 3 and 314 with GS = 4. f-FTD and s-FTD cases showed comparable demographic features, except for younger age at disease onset, age at diagnosis, and higher years of education in the f-FTD group (all P < .05). f-FTD showed worse behavioral disturbances as measured with Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBI) negative behaviors (14.0 +/- 7.6 vs. 11.6 +/- 7.4, P = .002), and positive behaviors (20.0 +/- 11.0 vs. 17.4 +/- 11.8, P = .031). Serum NfL concentrations were higher in patients with f-FTD (70.9 +/- 37.9 pg/mL) compared to s-FTD patients (37.3 +/- 24.2 pg/mL, P < .001), and f-FTD showed greater brain atrophy in the frontal and temporal regions and basal ganglia. Patients with f-FTD had significantly shorter survival than those with s-FTD (P = .004). Discussion f-FTD and s-FTD are very similar clinical entities, but with different biological mechanisms, and different rates of progression. The parallel characterization of both f-FTD and s-FTD will improve our understanding of the disease, and aid in designing future clinical trials for both genetic and sporadic forms of FTD. Highlights Do clinical features and biomarkers differ between patients with familial frontotemporal dementia (f-FTD) and sporadic FTD (s-FTD)? In this cohort study of 570 patients with FTD, f-FTD and s-FTD share similar demographic features, but with younger age at disease onset and diagnosis in the f-FTD group. f-FTD showed higher serum neurofilament light concentrations, greater brain damage, and shorter survival, compared to s-FTD. f-FTD and s-FTD are very similar clinical entities, but with different cognitive reserve mechanisms and different rates of progression.
|
|
| 6. |
- Dewan, Ramita, et al.
(författare)
-
Pathogenic Huntingtin Repeat Expansions in Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Neuron. - : Elsevier BV. - 1097-4199 .- 0896-6273. ; 109:3, s. 448-460.e4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examined the role of repeat expansions in the pathogenesis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by analyzing whole-genome sequence data from 2,442 FTD/ALS patients, 2,599 Lewy body dementia (LBD) patients, and 3,158 neurologically healthy subjects. Pathogenic expansions (range, 40-64 CAG repeats) in the huntingtin (HTT) gene were found in three (0.12%) patients diagnosed with pure FTD/ALS syndromes but were not present in the LBD or healthy cohorts. We replicated our findings in an independent collection of 3,674 FTD/ALS patients. Postmortem evaluations of two patients revealed the classical TDP-43 pathology of FTD/ALS, as well as huntingtin-positive, ubiquitin-positive aggregates in the frontal cortex. The neostriatal atrophy that pathologically defines Huntington's disease was absent in both cases. Our findings reveal an etiological relationship between HTT repeat expansions and FTD/ALS syndromes and indicate that genetic screening of FTD/ALS patients for HTT repeat expansions should be considered.
|
|
