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- Coomans, Emma M., et al.
(author)
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Genetically identical twin-pair difference models support the amyloid cascade hypothesis
- 2023
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In: Brain. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 146:9, s. 3735-3746
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The amyloid cascade hypothesis has strongly impacted the Alzheimer's disease research agenda and clinical trial designs over the past decades, but precisely how amyloid-β pathology initiates the aggregation of neocortical tau remains unclear. We cannot exclude the possibility of a shared upstream process driving both amyloid-β and tau in an independent manner instead of there being a causal relationship between amyloid-β and tau. Here, we tested the premise that if a causal relationship exists, then exposure should be associated with outcome both at the individual level as well as within identical twin-pairs, who are strongly matched on genetic, demographic and shared environmental background. Specifically, we tested associations between longitudinal amyloid-β PET and cross-sectional tau PET, neurodegeneration and cognitive decline using genetically identical twin-pair difference models, which provide the unique opportunity of ruling out genetic and shared environmental effects as potential confounders in an association. We included 78 cognitively unimpaired identical twins with [18F]flutemetamol (amyloid-β)-PET, [18F]flortaucipir (tau)-PET, MRI (hippocampal volume) and cognitive data (composite memory). Associations between each modality were tested at the individual level using generalized estimating equation models, and within identical twin-pairs using within-pair difference models. Mediation analyses were performed to test for directionality in the associations as suggested by the amyloid cascade hypothesis. At the individual level, we observed moderate-to-strong associations between amyloid-β, tau, neurodegeneration and cognition. The within-pair difference models replicated results observed at the individual level with comparably strong effect sizes. Within-pair differences in amyloid-β were strongly associated with within-pair differences in tau (β = 0.68, P < 0.001), and moderately associated with within-pair differences in hippocampal volume (β = -0.37, P = 0.03) and memory functioning (β = -0.57, P < 0.001). Within-pair differences in tau were moderately associated with within-pair differences in hippocampal volume (β = -0.53, P < 0.001) and strongly associated with within-pair differences in memory functioning (β = -0.68, P < 0.001). Mediation analyses showed that of the total twin-difference effect of amyloid-β on memory functioning, the proportion mediated through pathways including tau and hippocampal volume was 69.9%, which was largely attributable to the pathway leading from amyloid-β to tau to memory functioning (proportion mediated, 51.6%). Our results indicate that associations between amyloid-β, tau, neurodegeneration and cognition are unbiased by (genetic) confounding. Furthermore, effects of amyloid-β on neurodegeneration and cognitive decline were fully mediated by tau. These novel findings in this unique sample of identical twins are compatible with the amyloid cascade hypothesis and thereby provide important new knowledge for clinical trial designs.
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2. |
- Ingala, Silvia, et al.
(author)
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Application of the ATN classification scheme in a population without dementia: Findings from the EPAD cohort.
- 2021
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In: Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. - : Wiley. - 1552-5279. ; 17:7, s. 1189-1204
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We classified non-demented European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia (EPAD) participants through the amyloid/tau/neurodegeneration (ATN) scheme and assessed their neuropsychological and imaging profiles.From 1500 EPAD participants, 312 were excluded. Cerebrospinal fluid cut-offs of 1000 pg/mL for amyloid beta (Aß)1-42 and 27 pg/mL for p-tau181 were validated using Gaussian mixture models. Given strong correlation of p-tau and t-tau (R2 =0.98, P<0.001), neurodegeneration was defined by age-adjusted hippocampal volume. Multinomial regressions were used to test whether neuropsychological tests and regional brain volumes could distinguish ATN stages.Age was 65 ± 7 years, with 58% females and 38% apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers; 57.1% were A-T-N-, 32.5% were in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum, and 10.4% suspected non-Alzheimer's pathology. Age and cerebrovascular burden progressed with biomarker positivity (P<0.001). Cognitive dysfunction appeared with T+. Paradoxically higher regional gray matter volumes were observed in A+T-N- compared to A-T-N- (P<0.001).In non-demented individuals along the AD continuum, p-tau drives cognitive dysfunction. Memory and language domains are affected in the earliest stages.
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3. |
- Lorenzini, Luigi, et al.
(author)
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The Open-Access European Prevention of Alzheimer?s Dementia (EPAD) MRI dataset and processing workflow
- 2022
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In: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier. - 2213-1582. ; 35
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The European Prevention of Alzheimer Dementia (EPAD) is a multi-center study that aims to characterize the preclinical and prodromal stages of Alzheimer's Disease. The EPAD imaging dataset includes core (3D T1w, 3D FLAIR) and advanced (ASL, diffusion MRI, and resting-state fMRI) MRI sequences. Here, we give an overview of the semi-automatic multimodal and multisite pipeline that we developed to curate, preprocess, quality control (QC), and compute image-derived phenotypes (IDPs) from the EPAD MRI dataset. This pipeline harmonizes DICOM data structure across sites and performs standardized MRI pre-processing steps. A semi-automated MRI QC procedure was implemented to visualize and flag MRI images next to site-specific distributions of QC features - i.e. metrics that represent image quality. The value of each of these QC features was evaluated through comparison with visual assessment and step-wise parameter selection based on logistic regression. IDPs were computed from 5 different MRI modalities and their sanity and potential clinical relevance were ascertained by assessing their relationship with biological markers of aging and dementia. The EPAD v1500.0 data release encompassed core structural scans from 1356 participants 842 fMRI, 831 dMRI, and 858 ASL scans. From 1356 3D T1w images, we identified 17 images with poor quality and 61 with moderate quality. Five QC features - Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR), Coefficient of Joint Variation (CJV), Foreground-Background energy Ratio (FBER), and Image Quality Rate (IQR) - were selected as the most informative on image quality by comparison with visual assessment. The multimodal IDPs showed greater impairment in associations with age and dementia biomarkers, demonstrating the potential of the dataset for future clinical analyses
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4. |
- Luigi, Lorenzini, et al.
(author)
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Gray matter network properties show distinct associations with CSF p-tau 181 levels and amyloid status in individuals without dementia.
- 2022
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In: Aging brain. - : Elsevier BV. - 2589-9589. ; 2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gray matter networks are altered with amyloid accumulation in the earliest stage of AD, and are associated with decline throughout the AD spectrum. It remains unclear to what extent gray matter network abnormalities are associated with hyperphosphorylated-tau (p-tau). We studied the relationship of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) p-tau181 with gray matter networks in non-demented participants from the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia (EPAD) cohort, and studied dependencies on amyloid and cognitive status. Gray matter networks were extracted from baseline structural 3D T1w MRI. P-tau181 and abeta were measured with the Roche cobas Elecsys System. We studied the associations of CSF biomarkers levels with several network's graph properties. We further studied whether the relationships of p-tau 181 and network measures were dependent on amyloid status and cognitive stage (CDR). We repeated these analyses for network properties at a regional level, where we averaged local network values across cubes within each of 116 areas as defined by the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas. Amyloid positivity was associated with higher network size and betweenness centrality, and lower gamma, clustering and small-world coefficients. Higher CSF p-tau 181 levels were related to lower betweenness centrality, path length and lambda coefficients (all p<0.01). Three-way interactions between p-tau181, amyloid status and CDR were found for path length, lambda and clustering (all p<0.05): Cognitively unimpaired amyloid-negative participants showed lower path length and lambda values with higher CSF p-tau181 levels. Amyloid-positive participants with impaired cognition demonstrated lower clustering coefficients in association to higher CSF p-tau181 levels. Our results suggest that alterations in gray matter network clustering coefficient is an early and specific event in AD.
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5. |
- Tranfa, Mario, et al.
(author)
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Alzheimer's Disease and Small Vessel Disease Differentially Affect White Matter Microstructure
- 2024
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In: ANNALS OF CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL NEUROLOGY. - 2328-9503. ; 11:6, s. 1541-1556
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectiveAlzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD), the two most common causes of dementia, are characterized by white matter (WM) alterations diverging from the physiological changes occurring in healthy aging. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a valuable tool to quantify WM integrity non-invasively and identify the determinants of such alterations. Here, we investigated main effects and interactions of AD pathology, APOE-epsilon 4, cSVD, and cardiovascular risk on spatial patterns of WM alterations in non-demented older adults.MethodsWithin the prospective European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia study, we selected 606 participants (64.9 +/- 7.2 years, 376 females) with baseline cerebrospinal fluid samples of amyloid beta 1-42 and p-Tau181 and MRI scans, including DTI scans. Longitudinal scans (mean follow-up time = 1.3 +/- 0.5 years) were obtained in a subset (n = 223). WM integrity was assessed by extracting fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in relevant tracts. To identify the determinants of WM disruption, we performed a multimodel inference to identify the best linear mixed-effects model for each tract.ResultsAD pathology, APOE-epsilon 4, cSVD burden, and cardiovascular risk were all associated with WM integrity within several tracts. While limbic tracts were mainly impacted by AD pathology and APOE-epsilon 4, commissural, associative, and projection tract integrity was more related to cSVD burden and cardiovascular risk. AD pathology and cSVD did not show any significant interaction effect.InterpretationOur results suggest that AD pathology and cSVD exert independent and spatially different effects on WM microstructure, supporting the role of DTI in disease monitoring and suggesting independent targets for preventive medicine approaches.
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