1. |
- Schindler, Suzanne E, et al.
(author)
-
Effect of Race on Prediction of Brain Amyloidosis by Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40, Phosphorylated Tau, and Neurofilament Light.
- 2022
-
In: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 99:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To evaluate whether plasma biomarkers of amyloid (Aβ42/Aβ40), tau (p-tau181 and p-tau231) and neuroaxonal injury (neurofilament light chain [NfL]) detect brain amyloidosis consistently across racial groups.Individuals enrolled in studies of memory and aging who self-identified as African American (AA) were matched 1:1 to self-identified non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals by age, APOE ε4 carrier status and cognitive status. Each participant underwent blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection, and amyloid PET was performed in 103 participants (68%). Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 was measured by a high-performance immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry assay. Plasma p-tau181, p-tau231, and NfL were measured by Simoa immunoassays. CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 and amyloid PET status were used as primary and secondary reference standards of brain amyloidosis, respectively.There were 76 matched pairs of AA and NHW participants (n=152 total). For both AA and NHW groups, the median age was 68.4 years, 42% were APOE ε4 carriers and 91% were cognitively normal. AA were less likely than NHW to have brain amyloidosis by CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 (22% versus 43% positive, p = 0.003). The Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under the Curve (ROC AUC) of CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 status with the plasma biomarkers was as follows: Aβ42/Aβ40, 0.86 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.79-0.92); p-tau181, 0.76 (0.68-0.84); p-tau231, 0.69 (0.60-0.78); and NfL, 0.64 (0.55-0.73). In models predicting CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 status with plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 that included covariates (age, sex, APOE ε4 carrier status, race, and cognitive status), race did not affect the probability of CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 positivity. In similar models based on plasma p-tau181, p-tau231 or Nfl, AA had a lower probability of CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 positivity (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.31 [95% CI 0.13-0.73], OR 0.30 [0.13-0.71]) and OR 0.27 [0.12-0.64], respectively. Models of amyloid PET status yielded similar findings.Models predicting brain amyloidosis using a high performance plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 assay may provide an accurate and consistent measure of brain amyloidosis across AA and NHW groups, but models based on plasma p-tau181, p-tau231, and NfL may perform inconsistently and could result in disproportionate misdiagnosis of AA.
|
|
2. |
- Strikwerda-Brown, Cherie, et al.
(author)
-
Association of Elevated Amyloid and Tau Positron Emission Tomography Signal with Near-Term Development of Alzheimer Disease Symptoms in Older Adults Without Cognitive Impairment
- 2022
-
In: JAMA Neurology. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 2168-6149. ; 79:10, s. 975-985
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Importance: National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) workgroups have proposed biological research criteria intended to identify individuals with preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD). Objective: To assess the clinical value of these biological criteria to identify older individuals without cognitive impairment who are at near-term risk of developing symptomatic AD. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal cohort study used data from 4 independent population-based cohorts (PREVENT-AD, HABS, AIBL, and Knight ADRC) collected between 2003 and 2021. Participants were older adults without cognitive impairment with 1 year or more of clinical observation after amyloid β and tau positron emission tomography (PET). Median clinical follow-up after PET ranged from 1.94 to 3.66 years. Exposures: Based on binary assessment of global amyloid burden (A) and a composite temporal region of tau PET uptake (T), participants were stratified into 4 groups (A+T+, A+T-, A-T+, A-T-). Presence (+) or absence (-) of neurodegeneration (N) was assessed using temporal cortical thickness. Main Outcomes and Measures: Each cohort was analyzed separately. Primary outcome was clinical progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), identified by a Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0.5 or greater in Knight ADRC and by consensus committee review in the other cohorts. Clinical raters were blind to imaging, genetic, and fluid biomarker data. A secondary outcome was cognitive decline, based on a slope greater than 1.5 SD below the mean of an independent subsample of individuals without cognitive impairment. Outcomes were compared across the biomarker groups. Results: Among 580 participants (PREVENT-AD, 128; HABS, 153; AIBL, 48; Knight ADRC, 251), mean (SD) age ranged from 67 (5) to 76 (6) years across cohorts, with between 55% (137/251) and 74% (95/128) female participants. Across cohorts, 33% to 83% of A+T+ participants progressed to MCI during follow-up (mean progression time, 2-2.72 years), compared with less than 20% of participants in other biomarker groups. Progression further increased to 43% to 100% when restricted to A+T+(N+) individuals. Cox proportional hazard ratios for progression to MCI in the A+T+ group vs other biomarker groups were all 5 or greater. Many A+T+ nonprogressors also showed longitudinal cognitive decline, while cognitive trajectories in other groups remained predominantly stable. Conclusions and Relevance: The clinical prognostic value of NIA-AA research criteria was confirmed in 4 independent cohorts, with most A+T+(N+) older individuals without cognitive impairment developing AD symptoms within 2 to 3 years..
|
|
3. |
- Barthélemy, Nicolas R., et al.
(author)
-
CSF tau phosphorylation occupancies at T217 and T205 represent improved biomarkers of amyloid and tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease
- 2023
-
In: Nature Aging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2662-8465. ; 3:4, s. 391-401
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-β peptide (Aβ)42/Aβ40 and the concentration of tau phosphorylated at site 181 (p-tau181) are well-established biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The present study used mass spectrometry to measure concentrations of nine phosphorylated and five nonphosphorylated tau species and phosphorylation occupancies (percentage phosphorylated/nonphosphorylated) at ten sites. In the present study we show that, in 750 individuals with a median age of 71.2 years, CSF pT217/T217 predicted the presence of brain amyloid by positron emission tomography (PET) slightly better than Aβ42/Aβ40 (P = 0.02). Furthermore, for individuals with positive brain amyloid by PET (n = 263), CSF pT217/T217 was more strongly correlated with the amount of amyloid (Spearman’s ρ = 0.69) than Aβ42/Aβ40 (ρ = −0.42, P < 0.0001). In two independent cohorts of participants with symptoms of AD dementia (n = 55 and n = 90), CSF pT217/T217 and pT205/T205 were better correlated with tau PET measures than CSF p-tau181 concentration. These findings suggest that CSF pT217/T217 and pT205/T205 represent improved CSF biomarkers of amyloid and tau pathology in AD.
|
|
4. |
- Barthélemy, Nicolas R, et al.
(author)
-
Highly Accurate Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease Comparable or Superior to Clinical CSF Tests
-
In: Nature Medicine. - 1546-170X.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the emergence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) disease-modifying therapies, identifying patients who could benefit from these treatments becomes critical. We evaluated whether a precise blood test could perform as well as established cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests in detecting amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and tau tangles. Plasma %p-tau217 (ratio of phosporylated-tau217 to non-phosphorylated tau) was analyzed by mass spectrometry in the Swedish BioFINDER-2 cohort (n=1,422) and the US Knight ADRC cohort (n=337). Matched CSF samples were analyzed with clinically used and FDA-approved automated immunoassays for Aβ42/40 and p-tau181/Aβ42. The primary and secondary outcomes were detection of brain Aβ or tau pathology, respectively, using PET imaging as the reference standard. Main analyses were focused on individuals with cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia), which is the target population for available disease-modifying treatments. Plasma %p-tau217 was clinically equivalent to FDA-approved CSF tests in classifying Aβ PET status, with an area-under-the-curve (AUC) for both between 0.95-0.97. Plasma %p-tau217 was generally superior to CSF tests in classification of tau-PET with AUCs of 0.95-0.98. In cognitively impaired sub-cohorts (BioFINDER-2: n=720; Knight ADRC: n=50), plasma %p-tau217 had an accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 89-90% for Aβ PET and 87-88% for tau-PET status, which was clinically equivalent to CSF tests, further improving to 95% using a two cut-off approach. Blood plasma %p-tau217 demonstrated performance clinically equivalent or superior to clinically used FDA-approved CSF tests in the detection of AD pathology. Use of high performance blood tests in clinical practice can improve access to accurate AD diagnosis and AD-specific treatments.
|
|
5. |
- O’Connor, Antoinette, et al.
(author)
-
Tau accumulation in autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease: a longitudinal [18F]flortaucipir study
- 2023
-
In: Alzheimer's Research and Therapy. - 1758-9193. ; 15:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cortical tau accumulation is a key pathological event that partly defines Alzheimer’s disease (AD) onset and is associated with cognitive decline and future disease progression. However, an improved understanding of the timing and pattern of early tau deposition in AD and how this may be tracked in vivo is needed. Data from 59 participants involved in two longitudinal cohort studies of autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) were used to investigate whether tau PET can detect and track presymptomatic change; seven participants were symptomatic, and 52 were asymptomatic but at a 50% risk of carrying a pathogenic mutation. All had baseline flortaucipir (FTP) PET, MRI and clinical assessments; 26 individuals had more than one FTP PET scan. Standardised uptake value ratios (SUVRs) in prespecified regions of interest (ROIs) were obtained using inferior cerebellar grey matter as the reference region. We compared the changes in FTP SUVRs between presymptomatic carriers, symptomatic carriers and non-carriers, adjusting for age, sex and study site. We also investigated the relationship between regional FTP SUVRs and estimated years to/from symptom onset (EYO). Compared to both non-carriers and presymptomatic carriers, FTP SUVRs were significantly higher in symptomatic carriers in all ROIs tested (p < 0.001). There were no significant regional differences between presymptomatic carriers and non-carriers in FTP SUVRs, or their rates of change (p > 0.05), although increased FTP signal uptake was seen posteriorly in some individuals around the time of expected symptom onset. When we examined the relationship of FTP SUVR with respect to EYO, the earliest significant regional difference between mutation carriers and non-carriers was detected within the precuneus prior to estimated symptom onset in some cases. This study supports preliminary studies suggesting that presymptomatic tau tracer uptake is rare in ADAD. In cases where early uptake was seen, there was often a predilection for posterior regions (the precuneus and post-cingulate) as opposed to the medial temporal lobe, highlighting the importance of examining in vivo tau uptake beyond the confines of traditional Braak staging.
|
|
6. |
- Delvenne, Aurore, et al.
(author)
-
CSF proteomic profiles of neurodegeneration biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease
- 2024
-
In: Alzheimer's & Dementia. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1552-5260 .- 1552-5279.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: We aimed to unravel the underlying pathophysiology of the neurodegeneration (N) markers neurogranin (Ng), neurofilament light (NfL), and hippocampal volume (HCV), in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomics.METHODS: Individuals without dementia were classified as A+ (CSF amyloid beta [Aβ]42), T+ (CSF phosphorylated tau181), and N+ or N- based on Ng, NfL, or HCV separately. CSF proteomics were generated and compared between groups using analysis of covariance.RESULTS: Only a few individuals were A+T+Ng-. A+T+Ng+ and A+T+NfL+ showed different proteomic profiles compared to A+T+Ng- and A+T+NfL-, respectively. Both Ng+ and NfL+ were associated with neuroplasticity, though in opposite directions. Compared to A+T+HCV-, A+T+HCV+ showed few proteomic changes, associated with oxidative stress.DISCUSSION: Different N markers are associated with distinct neurodegenerative processes and should not be equated. N markers may differentially complement disease staging beyond amyloid and tau. Our findings suggest that Ng may not be an optimal N marker, given its low incongruency with tau pathophysiology.HIGHLIGHTS: In Alzheimer's disease, neurogranin (Ng)+, neurofilament light (NfL)+, and hippocampal volume (HCV)+ showed differential protein expression in cerebrospinal fluid. Ng+ and NfL+ were associated with neuroplasticity, although in opposite directions. HCV+ showed few proteomic changes, related to oxidative stress. Neurodegeneration (N) markers may differentially refine disease staging beyond amyloid and tau. Ng might not be an optimal N marker, as it relates more closely to tau.
|
|
7. |
- Horie, Kanta, et al.
(author)
-
CSF MTBR-tau243 is a specific biomarker of tau tangle pathology in Alzheimer’s disease
- 2023
-
In: Nature Medicine. - 1078-8956. ; 29:8, s. 1954-1963
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aggregated insoluble tau is one of two defining features of Alzheimer’s disease. Because clinical symptoms are strongly correlated with tau aggregates, drug development and clinical diagnosis need cost-effective and accessible specific fluid biomarkers of tau aggregates; however, recent studies suggest that the fluid biomarkers currently available cannot specifically track tau aggregates. We show that the microtubule-binding region (MTBR) of tau containing the residue 243 (MTBR-tau243) is a new cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker specific for insoluble tau aggregates and compared it to multiple other phosphorylated tau measures (p-tau181, p-tau205, p-tau217 and p-tau231) in two independent cohorts (BioFINDER-2, n = 448; and Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center, n = 219). MTBR-tau243 was most strongly associated with tau-positron emission tomography (PET) and cognition, whereas showing the lowest association with amyloid-PET. In combination with p-tau205, MTBR-tau243 explained most of the total variance in tau-PET burden (0.58 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.75) and the performance in predicting cognitive measures (0.34 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.48) approached that of tau-PET (0.44 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.52). MTBR-tau243 levels longitudinally increased with insoluble tau aggregates, unlike CSF p-tau species. CSF MTBR-tau243 is a specific biomarker of tau aggregate pathology, which may be utilized in interventional trials and in the diagnosis of patients. Based on these findings, we propose to revise the A/T/(N) criteria to include MTBR-tau243 as representing insoluble tau aggregates (‘T’).
|
|
8. |
- Salvadó, Gemma, et al.
(author)
-
Disease staging of Alzheimer’s disease using a CSF-based biomarker model
-
In: Nature Aging.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biological staging of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may improve diagnostic and prognostic workup of dementia in clinical practice and the design of clinical trials. In this study, we used the Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) algorithm to establish a robust biological staging model for AD using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Our analysis involved 426 participants from BioFINDER-2 and was validated in 222 participants from the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center cohort. SuStaIn identified a singular biomarker sequence and revealed that five CSF biomarkers effectively constituted a reliable staging model (ordered: Aβ42/40, pT217/T217, pT205/T205, MTBR-tau243 and non-phosphorylated mid-region tau). The CSF stages (0–5) demonstrated a correlation with increased abnormalities in other AD-related biomarkers, such as Aβ-PET and tau-PET, and aligned with longitudinal biomarker changes reflective of AD progression. Higher CSF stages at baseline were associated with an elevated hazard ratio of clinical decline. This study highlights a common molecular pathway underlying AD pathophysiology across all patients, suggesting that a single CSF collection can accurately indicate the presence of AD pathologies and characterize the stage of disease progression. The proposed staging model has implications for enhancing diagnostic and prognostic assessments in both clinical practice and the design of clinical trials.
|
|
9. |
- Twohig, Daniel, et al.
(author)
-
The relevance of cerebrospinal fluid α-synuclein levels to sporadic and familial Alzheimer's disease
- 2018
-
In: Acta neuropathologica communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2051-5960. ; 6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Accumulating evidence demonstrating higher cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) -synuclein (Syn) levels and Syn pathology in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients suggests that Syn is involved in the pathophysiology of AD. To investigate whether Syn could be related to specific aspects of the pathophysiology present in both sporadic and familial disease, we quantified CSF levels of Syn and assessed links to various disease parameters in a longitudinally followed cohort (n=136) including patients with sporadic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD, and in a cross-sectional sample from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network (n=142) including participants carrying autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) gene mutations and their non-mutation carrying family members.Our results show that sporadic MCI patients that developed AD over a period of two years exhibited higher baseline Syn levels (p=0.03), which inversely correlated to their Mini-Mental State Examination scores, compared to cognitively normal controls (p=0.02). In the same patients, there was a dose-dependent positive association between CSF Syn and the APOE epsilon 4 allele. Further, CSF Syn levels were higher in symptomatic ADAD mutation carriers versus non-mutation carriers (p=0.03), and positively correlated to the estimated years from symptom onset (p=0.05) across all mutation carriers. In asymptomatic (Clinical Dementia Rating<0.5) PET amyloid-positive ADAD mutation carriers CSF Syn was positively correlated to C-11-Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) retention in several brain regions including the posterior cingulate, superior temporal and frontal cortical areas. Importantly, APOE epsilon 4-positive ADAD mutation carriers exhibited an association between CSF Syn levels and mean cortical PiB retention (p=0.032). In both the sporadic AD and ADAD cohorts we found several associations predominantly between CSF levels of Syn, tau and amyloid-(1-40).Our results suggest that higher CSF Syn levels are linked to AD pathophysiology at the early stages of disease development and to the onset of cognitive symptoms in both sporadic and autosomal dominant AD. We conclude that APOE epsilon 4 may promote the processes driven by Syn, which in turn may reflect on molecular mechanisms linked to the asymptomatic build-up of amyloid plaque burden in brain regions involved in the early stages of AD development.
|
|