| 1. |
- Coomans, Emma M., et al.
(author)
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Performance of a [18F]Flortaucipir PET Visual Read Method Across the Alzheimer Disease Continuum and in Dementia with Lewy Bodies
- 2023
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In: Neurology. - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 101:19, s. 1850-1862
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and ObjectivesRecently, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the tau-binding radiotracer [18F]flortaucipir and an accompanying visual read method to support the diagnostic process in cognitively impaired patients assessed for Alzheimer disease (AD). Studies evaluating this visual read method are limited. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the visual read method in participants along the AD continuum and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) by determining its reliability, accordance with semiquantitative analyses, and associations with clinically relevant variables.MethodsWe included participants who underwent tau-PET at Amsterdam University Medical Center. A subset underwent follow-up tau-PET. Two trained nuclear medicine physicians visually assessed all scans. Inter-reader agreement was calculated using Cohen . To examine the concordance of visual read tau positivity with semiquantification, we defined standardized uptake value ratio (SUVr) positivity using different threshold approaches. To evaluate the prognostic value of tau-PET visual read, we performed linear mixed models with longitudinal Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).ResultsWe included 263 participants (mean age 68.5 years, 45.6% female), including 147 cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants, 97 amyloid-positive participants with mild cognitive impairment or AD dementia (AD), and 19 participants with DLB. The visual read inter-reader agreement was excellent ( = 0.95, CI 0.91-0.99). None of the amyloid-negative CU participants (0/92 [0%]) and 1 amyloid-negative participant with DLB (1/12 [8.3%]) were tau-positive. Among amyloid-positive participants, 13 CU participants (13/52 [25.0%]), 85 with AD (85/97 [87.6%]), and 3 with DLB (3/7 [42.9%]) were tau-positive. Two-year follow-up visual read status was identical to baseline. Tau-PET visual read corresponded strongly to SUVr status, with up to 90.4% concordance. Visual read tau positivity was associated with a decline on the MMSE in CU participants (β =-0.52, CI-0.74 to-0.30, p < 0.001) and participants with AD (β =-0.30, CI-0.58 to-0.02, p = 0.04).DiscussionThe excellent inter-reader agreement, strong correspondence with SUVr, and longitudinal stability indicate that the visual read method is reliable and robust, supporting clinical application. Furthermore, visual read tau positivity was associated with prospective cognitive decline, highlighting its additional prognostic potential. Future studies in unselected cohorts are needed for a better generalizability to the clinical population.Classification of EvidenceThis study provides Class II evidence that [18F]flortaucipir visual read accurately distinguishes patients with low tau-Tracer binding from those with high tau-Tracer binding and is associated with amyloid positivity and cognitive decline.
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| 2. |
- Coomans, Emma M., et al.
(author)
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A Head-to-Head Comparison Between Plasma pTau181 and Tau PET Along the Alzheimer’s Disease Continuum
- 2023
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In: Journal of Nuclear Medicine. - : Society of Nuclear Medicine. - 0161-5505 .- 2159-662X. ; 64:3, s. 437-443
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Both plasma tau phosphorylated at threonine-181 (pTau181) and tau PET show potential for detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology and predicting clinical progression. In this study, we performed a head-to-head comparison between plasma pTau181 and tau PET along the AD continuum. Methods: We included participants from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort who underwent 18F-flortaucipir (tau) PET and had a plasma sample biobanked within 12 mo from tau PET. Fifty subjective cognitive decline (SCD) participants (31 Ab-negative and 19 Ab-positive) and 60 Ab-positive participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia due to AD were included. A subset had 2-y longitudinal plasma pTau181 and tau PET available (n 5 40). Longitudinal neuropsychological test data covering 3.2 6 2.7 y from both before and after tau PET were available. Plasma pTau181 and tau PET were compared in their accuracies in discriminating between cognitive stage (MCI/AD vs. SCD) and preclinical Ab status (SCD Ab-positive vs. SCD Ab-negative), their associations with cross-sectional and longitudinal neuropsychological test performance, and their longitudinal changes over time. Results: When discriminating between preclinical Ab status, the area under the curve (AUC) for plasma pTau181 (0.83) and tau PET (entorhinal, 0.87; temporal, 0.85; neocortical, 0.67) were equally high (all DeLong P . 0.05), but tau PET outperformed plasma pTau181 in discriminating MCI/AD from SCD (AUC for plasma pTau181: 0.74; AUCs for tau PET: entorhinal, 0.89; temporal, 0.92; neocortical, 0.89) (all P, 0.01). Overall, tau PET showed stronger associations with cognitive decline and was associated with a wider variety of cognitive tests than plasma pTau181 (plasma pTau181, 20.02 . b, 20.12; tau PET, 20.01 . b, 20.22). Both plasma pTau181 and tau PET increased more steeply over time in MCI/AD than in SCD (P, 0.05), but only tau PET annual changes were associated with cognitive decline. Conclusion: Our results suggest that plasma pTau181 and tau PET perform equally well in identifying Ab pathology but that tau PET better monitors disease stage and clinical progression.
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| 3. |
- Ossenkoppele, Rik, et al.
(author)
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Amyloid and tau PET-positive cognitively unimpaired individuals are at high risk for future cognitive decline
- 2022
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In: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-170X .- 1078-8956. ; 28:11, s. 2381-2387
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A major unanswered question in the dementia field is whether cognitively unimpaired individuals who harbor both Alzheimer's disease neuropathological hallmarks (that is, amyloid-β plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles) can preserve their cognition over time or are destined to decline. In this large multicenter amyloid and tau positron emission tomography (PET) study (n = 1,325), we examined the risk for future progression to mild cognitive impairment and the rate of cognitive decline over time among cognitively unimpaired individuals who were amyloid PET-positive (A+) and tau PET-positive (T+) in the medial temporal lobe (A+TMTL+) and/or in the temporal neocortex (A+TNEO-T+) and compared them with A+T- and A-T- groups. Cox proportional-hazards models showed a substantially increased risk for progression to mild cognitive impairment in the A+TNEO-T+ (hazard ratio (HR) = 19.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 10.9-33.7), A+TMTL+ (HR = 14.6, 95% CI = 8.1-26.4) and A+T- (HR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.4-4.3) groups versus the A-T- (reference) group. Both A+TMTL+ (HR = 6.0, 95% CI = 3.4-10.6) and A+TNEO-T+ (HR = 7.9, 95% CI = 4.7-13.5) groups also showed faster clinical progression to mild cognitive impairment than the A+T- group. Linear mixed-effect models indicated that the A+TNEO-T+ (β = -0.056 ± 0.005, T = -11.55, P < 0.001), A+TMTL+ (β = -0.024 ± 0.005, T = -4.72, P < 0.001) and A+T- (β = -0.008 ± 0.002, T = -3.46, P < 0.001) groups showed significantly faster longitudinal global cognitive decline compared to the A-T- (reference) group (all P < 0.001). Both A+TNEO-T+ (P < 0.001) and A+TMTL+ (P = 0.002) groups also progressed faster than the A+T- group. In summary, evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease pathological changes provided by a combination of abnormal amyloid and tau PET examinations is strongly associated with short-term (that is, 3-5 years) cognitive decline in cognitively unimpaired individuals and is therefore of high clinical relevance.
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| 4. |
- Pilotto, Francesca, et al.
(author)
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Meta-analysis of multidecadal biodiversity trends in Europe
- 2020
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Local biodiversity trends over time are likely to be decoupled from global trends, as local processes may compensate or counteract global change. We analyze 161 long-term biological time series (15-91 years) collected across Europe, using a comprehensive dataset comprising ~6,200 marine, freshwater and terrestrial taxa. We test whether (i) local long-term biodiversity trends are consistent among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, and (ii) changes in biodiversity correlate with regional climate and local conditions. Our results reveal that local trends of abundance, richness and diversity differ among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, demonstrating that biodiversity changes at local scale are often complex and cannot be easily generalized. However, we find increases in richness and abundance with increasing temperature and naturalness as well as a clear spatial pattern in changes in community composition (i.e. temporal taxonomic turnover) in most biogeoregions of Northern and Eastern Europe. The global biodiversity decline might conceal complex local and group-specific trends. Here the authors report a quantitative synthesis of longterm biodiversity trends across Europe, showing how, despite overall increase in biodiversity metric and stability in abundance, trends differ between regions, ecosystem types, and taxa.
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| 5. |
- Schoonhoven, Deborah N., et al.
(author)
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Tau protein spreads through functionally connected neurons in Alzheimer's disease : a combined MEG/PET study
- 2023
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In: Brain. - 0006-8950. ; 146:10, s. 4040-4054
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent studies on Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggest that tau proteins spread through the brain following neuronal connections. Several mechanisms could be involved in this process: spreading between brain regions that interact strongly (functional connectivity); through the pattern of anatomical connections (structural connectivity); or simple diffusion. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated which spreading pathways influence tau protein spreading by modelling the tau propagation process using an epidemic spreading model. We compared the modelled tau depositions with 18F-flortaucipir PET binding potentials at several stages of the AD continuum. In this cross-sectional study, we analysed source-reconstructed MEG data and dynamic 100-min 18F-flortaucipir PET from 57 subjects positive for amyloid-β pathology [preclinical AD (n = 16), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD (n = 16) and AD dementia (n = 25)]. Cognitively healthy subjects without amyloid-β pathology were included as controls (n = 25). Tau propagation was modelled as an epidemic process (susceptible-infected model) on MEG-based functional networks [in alpha (8-13 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) bands], a structural or diffusion network, starting from the middle and inferior temporal lobe. The group-level network of the control group was used as input for the model to predict tau deposition in three stages of the AD continuum. To assess performance, model output was compared to the group-specific tau deposition patterns as measured with 18F-flortaucipir PET. We repeated the analysis by using networks of the preceding disease stage and/or using regions with most observed tau deposition during the preceding stage as seeds. In the preclinical AD stage, the functional networks predicted most of the modelled tau-PET binding potential, with best correlations between model and tau-PET [corrected amplitude envelope correlation (AEC-c) alpha C = 0.584; AEC-c beta C = 0.569], followed by the structural network (C = 0.451) and simple diffusion (C = 0.451). Prediction accuracy declined for the MCI and AD dementia stages, although the correlation between modelled tau and tau-PET binding remained highest for the functional networks (C = 0.384; C = 0.376). Replacing the control-network with the network from the preceding disease stage and/or alternative seeds improved prediction accuracy in MCI but not in the dementia stage. These results suggest that in addition to structural connections, functional connections play an important role in tau spread, and highlight that neuronal dynamics play a key role in promoting this pathological process. Aberrant neuronal communication patterns should be taken into account when identifying targets for future therapy. Our results also suggest that this process is more important in earlier disease stages (preclinical AD/MCI); possibly, in later stages, other processes may be influential.
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| 6. |
- Singleton, Ellen, et al.
(author)
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Heterogeneous distribution of tau pathology in the behavioural variant of Alzheimer's disease
- 2021
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In: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. - : BMJ. - 0022-3050 .- 1468-330X. ; 92:8, s. 872-880
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The clinical phenotype of the rare behavioural variant of Alzheimer's disease (bvAD) is insufficiently understood. Given the strong clinico-anatomical correlations of tau pathology in AD, we investigated the distribution of tau deposits in bvAD, in-vivo and ex-vivo, using positron emission tomography (PET) and postmortem examination. Methods: For the tau PET study, seven amyloid-β positive bvAD patients underwent [18F]flortaucipir or [18F]RO948 PET. We converted tau PET uptake values into standardised (W-)scores, adjusting for age, sex and mini mental state examination in a 'typical' memory-predominant AD (n=205) group. W-scores were computed within entorhinal, temporoparietal, medial and lateral prefrontal, insular and whole-brain regions-of-interest, frontal-to-entorhinal and frontal-to-parietal ratios and within intrinsic functional connectivity network templates. For the postmortem study, the percentage of AT8 (tau)-positive area in hippocampus CA1, temporal, parietal, frontal and insular cortices were compared between autopsy-confirmed patients with bvAD (n=8) and typical AD (tAD;n=7). Results: Individual regional W-scores ≥1.96 (corresponding to p<0.05) were observed in three cases, that is, case #5: medial prefrontal cortex (W=2.13) and anterior default mode network (W=3.79), case #2: lateral prefrontal cortex (W=2.79) and salience network (W=2.77), and case #7: frontal-to-entorhinal ratio (W=2.04). The remaining four cases fell within the normal distributions of the tAD group. Postmortem AT8 staining indicated no group-level regional differences in phosphorylated tau levels between bvAD and tAD (all p>0.05). Conclusions: Both in-vivo and ex-vivo, patients with bvAD showed heterogeneous distributions of tau pathology. Since key regions involved in behavioural regulation were not consistently disproportionally affected by tau pathology, other factors are more likely driving the clinical phenotype in bvAD.
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| 7. |
- Timmers, Tessa, et al.
(author)
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Associations between quantitative [18F]flortaucipir tau PET and atrophy across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum
- 2019
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In: Alzheimer's Research and Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Neuropathological studies have linked tau aggregates to neuronal loss. To describe the spatial distribution of neurofibrillary tangle pathology in post-mortem tissue, Braak staging has been used. The aim of this study was to examine in vivo associations between tau pathology, quantified with [18F]flortaucipir PET in regions corresponding to Braak stages, and atrophy across the Alzheimer's disease (AD) spectrum. Methods: We included 100 subjects, including 58 amyloid-β positive patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 6) or AD dementia (n = 52) and 42 controls with subjective cognitive decline (36% amyloid-β positive). All subjects underwent a dynamic [18F]flortaucipir PET to generate non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) maps. We extracted average [18F]flortaucipir BPND entorhinal, Braak III-IV (limbic) and Braak V-VI (neocortical) regions of interest (ROIs). T1-weighted MRI was used to assess gray matter (GM) volumes. We performed linear regression analyses using [18F]flortaucipir BPND ROIs as independent and GM density (ROI or voxelwise) as dependent variable. Results: In MCI/AD subjects (age [mean ± SD] 65 ± 8 years, MMSE 23 ± 4), [18F]flortaucipir BPND was higher than in controls (age 65 ± 8, MMSE 29 ± 1) across all ROIs (entorhinal 0.06 ± 0.21 vs 0.46 ± 0.25 p < 0.001, Braak III-IV 0.11 ± 0.10 vs 0.46 ± 0.26, p < 0.001, Braak V-VI 0.07 ± 0.07 vs 0.38 ± 0.29, p < 0.001). In MCI/AD, greater [18F]flortaucipir BPND in entorhinal cortex was associated with lower GM density in medial temporal lobe (β - 0.40, p < 0.001). Greater [18F]flortaucipir BPND in ROI Braak III-IV and Braak V-VI was associated with smaller GM density in lateral and inferior temporal, parietal, occipital, and frontal lobes (range standardized βs - 0.30 to - 0.55, p < 0.01), but not in medial temporal lobe (β - 0.22, p 0.07). [18F]Flortaucipir BPND in ROI Braak I-II was not associated with GM density loss anywhere. When quantifying [18F]flortaucipir BPND across brain lobes, we observed both local and distant associations with GM atrophy. In controls, there were no significant associations between [18F]flortaucipir BPND and GM density (standardized βs ranging from - 0.24 to 0.02, all p > 0.05). Conclusions: In MCI/AD patients, [18F]flortaucipir binding in entorhinal, limbic, and neocortical regions was associated with cortical atrophy.
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| 8. |
- Timmers, Tessa, et al.
(author)
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Test–retest repeatability of [18F]Flortaucipir PET in Alzheimer’s disease and cognitively normal individuals
- 2020
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In: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. - 0271-678X. ; 40:12, s. 2464-2474
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate the test–retest (TRT) repeatability of various parametric quantification methods for [18F]Flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET). We included eight subjects with dementia or mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease and six cognitively normal subjects. All underwent two 130-min dynamic [18F]Flortaucipir PET scans within 3 ± 1 weeks. Data were analyzed using reference region models receptor parametric mapping (RPM), simplified reference tissue method 2 (SRTM2) and reference logan (RLogan), as well as standardized uptake value ratios (SUVr, time intervals 40–60, 80–100 and 110–130 min post-injection) with cerebellar gray matter as reference region. We obtained distribution volume ratio or SUVr, first for all brain regions and then in three tau-specific regions-of-interest (ROIs). TRT repeatability (%) was defined as |retest–test|/(average (test + retest)) × 100. For all methods and across ROIs, TRT repeatability ranged from (median (IQR)) 0.84% (0.68–2.15) to 6.84% (2.99–11.50). TRT repeatability was good for all reference methods used, although semi-quantitative models (i.e. SUVr) performed marginally worse than quantitative models, for instance TRT repeatability of RPM: 1.98% (0.78–3.58) vs. SUVr80–100: 3.05% (1.28–5.52), p < 0.001. Furthermore, for SUVr80–100 and SUVr110–130, with higher average SUVr, more variation was observed. In conclusion, while TRT repeatability was good for all models used, quantitative methods performed slightly better than semi-quantitative methods.
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| 9. |
- Tuncel, Hayel, et al.
(author)
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Effect of Shortening the Scan Duration on Quantitative Accuracy of [18F]Flortaucipir Studies
- 2021
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In: Molecular Imaging and Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1536-1632 .- 1860-2002. ; 23:4, s. 604-613
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) protocols allow for accurate quantification of [18F]flortaucipir-specific binding. However, dynamic acquisitions can be challenging given the long required scan duration of 130 min. The current study assessed the effect of shorter scan protocols for [18F]flortaucipir on its quantitative accuracy. Procedures: Two study cohorts with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and healthy controls (HC) were included. All subjects underwent a 130-min dynamic [18F]flortaucipir PET scan consisting of two parts (0–60/80–130 min) post-injection. Arterial sampling was acquired during scanning of the first cohort only. For the second cohort, a second PET scan was acquired within 1–4 weeks of the first PET scan to assess test-retest repeatability (TRT). Three alternative time intervals were explored for the second part of the scan: 80–120, 80–110 and 80–100 min. Furthermore, the first part of the scan was also varied: 0–50, 0–40 and 0–30 min time intervals were assessed. The gap in the reference TACs was interpolated using four different interpolation methods: population-based input function 2T4k_VB (POP-IP_2T4k_VB), cubic, linear and exponential. Regional binding potential (BPND) and relative tracer delivery (R1) values estimated using simplified reference tissue model (SRTM) and/or receptor parametric mapping (RPM). The different scan protocols were compared to the respective values estimated using the original scan acquisition. In addition, TRT of the RPM BPND and R1 values estimated using the optimal shortest scan duration was also assessed. Results: RPM BPND and R1 obtained using 0–30/80–100 min scan and POP-IP_2T4k_VB reference region interpolation had an excellent correlation with the respective parametric values estimated using the original scan duration (r2 > 0.95). The TRT of RPM BPND and R1 using the shortest scan duration was − 1 ± 5 % and − 1 ± 6 % respectively. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that [18F]flortaucipir PET scan can be acquired with sufficient quantitative accuracy using only 50 min of dual-time-window scanning time.
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| 10. |
- Tuncel, Hayel, et al.
(author)
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Head-to-head comparison of relative cerebral blood flow derived from dynamic [18F]florbetapir and [18F]flortaucipir PET in subjects with subjective cognitive decline
- 2023
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In: EJNMMI Research. - 2191-219X. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Dynamic PET imaging studies provide accurate estimates of specific binding, but also measure the relative tracer delivery (R1), which is a proxy for relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Recently, studies suggested that R1 obtained from different tracers could be used interchangeably and is irrespective of target tissue. However, the similarities or differences of R1 obtained from different PET tracers still require validation. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to compare R1 estimates, derived from dynamic [18F]florbetapir (amyloid) and [18F]flortaucipir (tau) PET, in the same subjects with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Results: Voxel-wise analysis presented a small cluster (1.6% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]flortaucipir compared to [18F]florbetapir in the Aβ-negative group. These voxels were part of the hippocampus and the left middle occipital gyrus. In part of the thalamus, midbrain and cerebellum, voxels (2.5% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]florbetapir were observed. In the Aβ-positive group, a cluster (0.2% of the whole brain) of higher R1 values was observed in part of the hippocampus, right parahippocampal gyrus and in the left sagittal stratum for [18F]flortaucipir compared to [18F]florbetapir. Furthermore, in part of the thalamus, left amygdala, midbrain and right parahippocampal gyrus voxels (0.4% of the whole brain) with higher R1 values for [18F]florbetapir were observed. Despite these differences, [18F]florbetapir R1 had high correspondence with [18F]flortaucipir R1 across all regions of interest (ROIs) and subjects (Aβ−:r 2 = 0.79, slope = 0.85, ICC = 0.76; Aβ+: r 2 = 0.87, slope = 0.93, ICC = 0.77). Conclusion: [18F]flortaucipir and [18F]florbetapir showed similar R1 estimates in cortical regions. This finding, put together with previous studies, indicates that R1 could be considered a surrogate for relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the cortex and may be used interchangeably, but with caution, regardless of the choice of these two tracers.
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| 11. |
- Visser, Denise, et al.
(author)
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Differential associations between neocortical tau pathology and blood flow with cognitive deficits in early-onset vs late-onset Alzheimer’s disease
- 2022
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In: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1619-7070 .- 1619-7089. ; 49:6, s. 1951-1963
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) differ in neuropathological burden and type of cognitive deficits. Assessing tau pathology and relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measured with [18F]flortaucipir PET in relation to cognition may help explain these differences between EOAD and LOAD. Methods: Seventy-nine amyloid-positive individuals with a clinical diagnosis of AD (EOAD: n = 35, age-at-PET = 59 ± 5, MMSE = 23 ± 4; LOAD: n = 44, age-at-PET = 71 ± 5, MMSE = 23 ± 4) underwent a 130-min dynamic [18F]flortaucipir PET scan and extensive neuropsychological assessment. We extracted binding potentials (BPND) and R1 (proxy of rCBF) from parametric images using receptor parametric mapping, in medial and lateral temporal, parietal, occipital, and frontal regions-of-interest and used nine neuropsychological tests covering memory, attention, language, and executive functioning. We first examined differences between EOAD and LOAD in BPND or R1 using ANOVA (region-of-interest analysis) and voxel-wise contrasts. Next, we performed linear regression models to test for potential interaction effects between age-at-onset and BPND/R1 on cognition. Results: Both region-of-interest and voxel-wise contrasts showed higher [18F]flortaucipir BPND values across all neocortical regions in EOAD. By contrast, LOAD patients had lower R1 values (indicative of more reduced rCBF) in medial temporal regions. For both tau and flow in lateral temporal, and occipitoparietal regions, associations with cognitive impairment were stronger in EOAD than in LOAD (EOAD BPND − 0.76 ≤ stβ ≤ − 0.48 vs LOAD − 0.18 ≤ stβ ≤ − 0.02; EOAD R1 0.37 ≤ stβ ≤ 0.84 vs LOAD − 0.25 ≤ stβ ≤ 0.16). Conclusions: Compared to LOAD, the degree of lateral temporal and occipitoparietal tau pathology and relative cerebral blood-flow is more strongly associated with cognition in EOAD.
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| 12. |
- Visser, Denise, et al.
(author)
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Longitudinal Tau PET Using 18F-Flortaucipir : The Effect of Relative Cerebral Blood Flow on Quantitative and Semiquantitative Parameters
- 2023
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In: Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. - : Society of Nuclear Medicine. - 0161-5505. ; 64:2, s. 281-286
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Semiquantitative PET measures such as SUV ratio (SUVr) have several advantages over quantitative measures, such as practical applicability and relative computational simplicity. However, SUVr may potentially be affected by changes in blood flow, whereas quantitative measures such as nondisplaceable binding potential (BPND) are not. For 18F-flortaucipir PET, the sensitivity of SUVr for changes in blood flow is currently unknown. Therefore, we compared semiquantitative (SUVr) and quantitative (BPND) parameters of longitudinal 18F-flortaucipir PET scans and assessed their vulnerability to changes in blood flow. Methods: Subjects with subjective cognitive decline (n = 38) and Alzheimer disease patients (n = 24) underwent baseline and 2-y follow-up dynamic 18F-flortaucipir PET scans. BPND and relative tracer delivery were estimated using receptor parametric mapping, and SUVr at 80-100 min was calculated. Regional SUVrs were compared with corresponding distribution volume ratio (BPND + 1) using paired t tests. Additionally, simulations were performed to model effects of larger flow changes in different binding categories. Results: Results in subjective cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease showed only minor differences between SUVr and BPND changes over time. Relative tracer delivery changes were small in all groups. Simulations illustrated a variable bias for SUVr depending on the amount of binding. Conclusion: SUVr provided an accurate estimate of changes in specific binding for 18F-flortaucipir over a 2-y follow-up during which changes in flow were small. Notwithstanding, simulations showed that large(r) flow changes may affect 18F-flortaucipir SUVr. Given that it is currently unknown to what order of magnitude pharmacotherapeutic interventions may induce changes in cerebral blood flow, caution may be warranted when changes in flow are potentially large(r), as in clinical trials.
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| 13. |
- Visser, Denise, et al.
(author)
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Tau pathology and relative cerebral blood flow are independently associated with cognition in Alzheimer’s disease
- 2020
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In: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1619-7070 .- 1619-7089. ; 47:13, s. 3165-3175
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: We aimed to investigate associations between tau pathology and relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and their relationship with cognition in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), by using a single dynamic [18F]flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET) scan. Methods: Seventy-one subjects with AD (66 ± 8 years, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) 23 ± 4) underwent a dynamic 130-min [18F]flortaucipir PET scan. Cognitive assessment consisted of composite scores of four cognitive domains. For tau pathology and rCBF, receptor parametric mapping (cerebellar gray matter reference region) was used to create uncorrected and partial volume-corrected parametric images of non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) and R1, respectively. (Voxel-wise) linear regressions were used to investigate associations between BPND and/or R1 and cognition. Results: Higher [18F]flortaucipir BPND was associated with lower R1 in the lateral temporal, parietal and occipital regions. Higher medial temporal BPND was associated with worse memory, and higher lateral temporal BPND with worse executive functioning and language. Higher parietal BPND was associated with worse executive functioning, language and attention, and higher occipital BPND with lower cognitive scores across all domains. Higher frontal BPND was associated with worse executive function and attention. For [18F]flortaucipir R1, lower values in the lateral temporal and parietal ROIs were associated with worse executive functioning, language and attention, and lower occipital R1 with lower language and attention scores. When [18F]flortaucipir BPND and R1 were modelled simultaneously, associations between lower R1 in the lateral temporal ROI and worse attention remained, as well as for lower parietal R1 and worse executive functioning and attention. Conclusion: Tau pathology was associated with locally reduced rCBF. Tau pathology and low rCBF were both independently associated with worse cognitive performance. For tau pathology, these associations spanned widespread neocortex, while for rCBF, independent associations were restricted to lateral temporal and parietal regions and the executive functioning and attention domains. These findings indicate that each biomarker may independently contribute to cognitive impairment in AD.
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| 14. |
- Wolters, Emma E., et al.
(author)
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Hippocampal [18F]flortaucipir BPND corrected for possible spill-in of the choroid plexus retains strong clinico-pathological relationships
- 2020
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In: NeuroImage: Clinical. - : Elsevier BV. - 2213-1582. ; 25
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Off-target [18F]flortaucipir (tau) PET binding in the choroid plexus causes spill-in into the nearby hippocampus, which may influence the correlation between [18F]flortaucipir binding and measures of cognition. Previously, we showed that partial volume correction (combination of Van Cittert iterative deconvolution and HYPR denoising; PVC HDH) and manually eroding the hippocampus resulted in a significant decrease of the choroid plexus spill-in. In this study, we compared three different approaches for the quantification of hippocampal [18F]flortaucipir signal using a semi-automated technique, and assessed correlations with cognitive performance across methods. Methods: Dynamic 130 min [18F]flortaucipir PET scans were performed in 109 subjects (45 cognitively normal subjects (CN) and 64 mild cognitive impairment/Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia patients. We extracted hippocampal binding potential (BPND) using receptor parametric mapping with cerebellar grey matter as reference region. PVC HDH was performed. Based on our previous study in which we manually eroded 40% ± 10% of voxels of the hippocampus, three hippocampal volumes-of-interest (VOIs) were generated: a non-optimized 100% hippocampal VOI [100%], and combining HDH with eroding a percentage of the highest hippocampus BPND voxels (i.e. lowering spill-in) resulting in optimized 50%[50%HDH] and 40%[40%HDH] hippocampal VOIs. Cognitive performance was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Rey auditory verbal learning delayed recall. We performed receiver operating characteristic analyses to investigate which method could best discriminate MCI/AD from controls. Subsequently, we performed linear regressions to investigate associations between the hippocampal [18F]flortaucipir BPND VOIs and MMSE/delayed recall adjusted for age, sex and education. Results: We found higher hippocampal [18F]flortaucipir BPND in MCI/AD patients (BPND100%=0.27±0.15) compared to CN (BPND100%= 0.07±0.13) and all methods showed comparable discriminative effects (AUC100%=0.85[CI=0.78–0.93]; AUC50%HDH=0.84[CI=0.74–0.92]; AUC40%HDH=0.83[CI=0.74–0.92]). Across groups, higher [18F]flortaucipir BPND was related to lower scores on MMSE (standardized β100%=-0.38[CI=-0.57−0.20]; β50%HDH= -0.37[CI=-0.54−0.19]; β40%HDH=-0.35[CI=-0.53−0.17], all p<0.001) and delayed recall (standardized β100%=-0.64[CI=-0.79−0.49]; β50%HDH= -0.61[CI=-0.76−0.46]; β40%HDH=-0.59[CI=-0.75−0.44]; all p<0.001), with comparable effect sizes for all hippocampal VOIs. Conclusions: Hippocampal tau load measured with [18F]flortaucipir PET is strongly associated with cognitive function. Both discrimination between diagnostic groups and associations between hippocampal [18F]flortaucipir BPND and memory were comparable for all methods. The non-optimized 100% hippocampal VOI may be sufficient for clinical interpretation. However, proper correction for choroid plexus spillover and may be required in case of smaller effect sizes between subject groups or for longitudinal studies.
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- Wolters, Emma E., et al.
(author)
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Regional [18F]flortaucipir PET is more closely associated with disease severity than CSF p-tau in Alzheimer’s disease
- 2020
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In: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1619-7070 .- 1619-7089. ; 47:12, s. 2866-2878
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: In vivo Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers for tau pathology are cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and [18F]flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET). Our aim was to assess associations between CSF p-tau with [18F]flortaucipir PET and the associations of both tau biomarkers with cognition and atrophy. Methods: We included 78 amyloid positive cognitively impaired patients (clinical diagnoses mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 8) and AD dementia (n = 45) and 25 cognitively normal subjects with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) (40% amyloid-positive)). Dynamic 130 min [18F]flortaucipir PET scans were acquired to generate binding potential (BPND) images using receptor parametric mapping and standardized uptake values ratios of 80–100 min (SUVr80-100min) post injection. We obtained regional BPND and SUVr from entorhinal, limbic, and neocortical regions-of-interest (ROIs), closely aligning to the neuropathological tau staging schemes. Cognition was assessed using MMSE and composite scores of four cognitive domains, and atrophy was measured using gray matter volume covering the major brain lobes. First, we used linear regressions to investigate associations between CSF p-tau (independent variable) and tau PET (dependent variable). Second, we used linear regressions to investigate associations between CSF p-tau, tau PET (separate independent variables, model 1), and cognition (dependent variable). We then assessed the independent effects of CSF p-tau and tau PET on cognition by simultaneously adding the other tau biomarker as a predictor (model 2). Finally, we performed the same procedure for model 1 and 2, but replaced cognition with atrophy. Models were adjusted for age, sex, time lag between assessments, education (cognition only), and total intracranial volume (atrophy only). Results: Higher [18F]flortaucipir BPND was associated with higher CSF p-tau (range of standardized betas (sβ) across ROIs, 0.43–0.46; all p < 0.01). [18F]flortaucipir BPND was more strongly associated with cognition and atrophy than CSF p-tau. When [18F]flortaucipir BPND and CSF p-tau were entered simultaneously, [18F]flortaucipir BPND (range sβ = − 0.20 to – 0.57, all p < 0.05) was strongly associated with multiple cognitive domains and atrophy regions. SUVr showed comparable results to BPND. Conclusion: Regional [18F]flortaucipir BPND correlated stronger with cognition and neurodegeneration than CSF p-tau, suggesting that tau PET more accurately reflects disease severity in AD.
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