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- Vogel, Jacob W., et al.
(author)
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Four distinct trajectories of tau deposition identified in Alzheimer’s disease
- 2021
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In: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 27:5, s. 871-881
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the spread of tau pathology throughout the cerebral cortex. This spreading pattern was thought to be fairly consistent across individuals, although recent work has demonstrated substantial variability in the population with AD. Using tau-positron emission tomography scans from 1,612 individuals, we identified 4 distinct spatiotemporal trajectories of tau pathology, ranging in prevalence from 18 to 33%. We replicated previously described limbic-predominant and medial temporal lobe-sparing patterns, while also discovering posterior and lateral temporal patterns resembling atypical clinical variants of AD. These ‘subtypes’ were stable during longitudinal follow-up and were replicated in a separate sample using a different radiotracer. The subtypes presented with distinct demographic and cognitive profiles and differing longitudinal outcomes. Additionally, network diffusion models implied that pathology originates and spreads through distinct corticolimbic networks in the different subtypes. Together, our results suggest that variation in tau pathology is common and systematic, perhaps warranting a re-examination of the notion of ‘typical AD’ and a revisiting of tau pathological staging. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.
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- Ossenkoppele, Rik, et al.
(author)
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Discriminative Accuracy of F-18 flortaucipir Positron Emission Tomography for Alzheimer Disease vs Other Neurodegenerative Disorders
- 2018
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In: Jama-Journal of the American Medical Association. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 0098-7484. ; 320:11, s. 1151-1162
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- IMPORTANCE The positron emission tomography (PET) tracer [F-18]flortaucipir allows in vivo quantification of paired helical filament tau, a core neuropathological feature of Alzheimer disease (AD), but its diagnostic utility is unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine the discriminative accuracy of [F-18]flortaucipir for AD vs non-AD neurodegenerative disorders. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this cross-sectional study, 719 participants were recruited from 3 dementia centers in South Korea, Sweden, and the United States between June 2014 and November 2017 (160 cognitively normal controls, 126 patients with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], of whom 65.9% were amyloid-beta [A beta]positive [ie, MCI due to AD], 179 patients with AD dementia, and 254 patients with various non-AD neurodegenerative disorders). EXPOSURES The index testwas the [F-18]flortaucipir PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) in 5 predefined regions of interest (ROIs). Cut points for tau positivity were determined using the mean +2 SDs observed in controls and Youden Index for the contrast AD dementia vs controls. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The reference standard was the clinical diagnosis determined at the specialized memory centers. In the primary analysis, the discriminative accuracy (ie, sensitivity and specificity) of [F-18]flortaucipir was examined for AD dementia vs all non-AD neurodegenerative disorders. In secondary analyses, the area under the curve (AUC) of [F-18]flortaucipir SUVR was compared with 3 established magnetic resonance imaging measures (hippocampal volumes and AD signature and whole-brain cortical thickness), and sensitivity and specificity of [F-18]flortaucipir in MCI due to AD vs non-AD neurodegenerative disorders were determined. RESULTS Among 719 participants, the overall mean (SD) age was 68.8 (9.2) years and 48.4% were male. The proportions of patients who were amyloid-beta positive were 26.3%, 65.9%, 100%, and 23.8% among cognitively normal controls, patients with MCI, patients with AD dementia, and patients with non-AD neurodegenerative disorders, respectively. [F-18]flortaucipir uptake in the medial-basal and lateral temporal cortex showed 89.9% (95% CI, 84.6%-93.9%) sensitivity and 90.6%(95% CI, 86.3%-93.9%) specificity using the threshold based on controls (SUVR, 1.34), and 96.8%(95% CI, 92.0%-99.1%) sensitivity and 87.9%(95% CI, 81.9%-92.4%) specificity using the Youden Index-derived cutoff (SUVR, 1.27) for distinguishing AD dementia from all non-AD neurodegenerative disorders. The AUCs for all 5 [F-18]flortaucipir ROIs were higher (AUC range, 0.92-0.95) compared with the 3 volumetric MRI measures (AUC range, 0.63-0.75; all ROIs P<.001). Diagnostic performance of the 5 [F-18]flortaucipir ROIs were lower in MCI due to AD (AUC range, 0.75-0.84). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among patients with established diagnoses at a memory disorder clinic, [F-18]flortaucipir PET was able to discriminate AD from other neurodegenerative diseases. The accuracy and potential utility of this test in patient care require further research in clinically more representative populations.
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- Thijssen, E. H., et al.
(author)
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Diagnostic value of plasma phosphorylated tau181 in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration
- 2020
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In: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 26, s. 387-397
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plasma pTau181 concentrations are elevated specifically in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease compared to those diagnosed with frontotemporal lobar degeneration or elderly controls, supporting its further development as a blood-based biomarker for AD. With the potential development of new disease-modifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapies, simple, widely available screening tests are needed to identify which individuals, who are experiencing symptoms of cognitive or behavioral decline, should be further evaluated for initiation of treatment. A blood-based test for AD would be a less invasive and less expensive screening tool than the currently approved cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid beta positron emission tomography (PET) diagnostic tests. We examined whether plasma tau phosphorylated at residue 181 (pTau181) could differentiate between clinically diagnosed or autopsy-confirmed AD and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Plasma pTau181 concentrations were increased by 3.5-fold in AD compared to controls and differentiated AD from both clinically diagnosed (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.894) and autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal lobar degeneration (area under the curve of 0.878). Plasma pTau181 identified individuals who were amyloid beta-PET-positive regardless of clinical diagnosis and correlated with cortical tau protein deposition measured by F-18-flortaucipir PET. Plasma pTau181 may be useful to screen for tau pathology associated with AD.
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- Barthélemy, Nicolas R, et al.
(author)
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Highly Accurate Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease Comparable or Superior to Clinical CSF Tests
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In: Nature Medicine. - 1546-170X.
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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.
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- Leuzy, A., et al.
(author)
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Robustness of CSF A beta 42/40 and A beta 42/P-tau181 measured using fully automated immunoassays to detect AD-related outcomes
- 2023
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In: Alzheimers & Dementia. - : Wiley. - 1552-5260 .- 1552-5279. ; 19:7, s. 2994-3004
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- IntroductionThis study investigated the comparability of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cutoffs for Elecsys immunoassays for amyloid beta (A beta)42/A beta 40 or A beta 42/phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181 and the effects of measurement variability when predicting Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related outcomes (i.e., A beta-positron emission tomography [PET] visual read and AD neuropathology). MethodsWe studied 750 participants (BioFINDER study, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI], and University of California San Francisco [UCSF]). Youden's index was used to identify cutoffs and to calculate accuracy (A beta-PET visual read as outcome). Using longitudinal variability in A beta-negative controls, we identified a gray zone around cut-points where the risk of an inconsistent predicted outcome was >5%. ResultsFor A beta 42/A beta 40, cutoffs across cohorts were <0.059 (BioFINDER), <0.057 (ADNI), and <0.058 (UCSF). For A beta 42/p-tau181, cutoffs were <41.90 (BioFINDER), <39.20 (ADNI), and <46.02 (UCSF). Accuracy was approximate to 90% for both A beta 42/A beta 40 and A beta 42/p-tau181 using these cutoffs. Using A beta-PET as an outcome, 8.7% of participants fell within a gray zone interval for A beta 42/A beta 40, compared to 4.5% for A beta 42/p-tau181. Similar findings were observed using a measure of overall AD neuropathologic change (7.7% vs. 3.3%). In a subset with CSF and plasma A beta 42/40, the number of individuals within the gray zone was approximate to 1.5 to 3 times greater when using plasma A beta 42/40. DiscussionCSF A beta 42/p-tau181 was more robust to the effects of measurement variability, suggesting that it may be the preferred Elecsys-based measure in clinical practice and trials.
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- Sexton, Claire E., et al.
(author)
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Novel avenues of tau research
- 2024
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In: Alzheimer's and Dementia. - 1552-5260. ; 20:3, s. 2240-2261
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: The pace of innovation has accelerated in virtually every area of tau research in just the past few years. METHODS: In February 2022, leading international tau experts convened to share selected highlights of this work during Tau 2022, the second international tau conference co-organized and co-sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association, CurePSP, and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. RESULTS: Representing academia, industry, and the philanthropic sector, presenters joined more than 1700 registered attendees from 59 countries, spanning six continents, to share recent advances and exciting new directions in tau research. DISCUSSION: The virtual meeting provided an opportunity to foster cross-sector collaboration and partnerships as well as a forum for updating colleagues on research-advancing tools and programs that are steadily moving the field forward.
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9. |
- Therriault, Joseph, et al.
(author)
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Biomarker-based staging of Alzheimer disease: rationale and clinical applications.
- 2024
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In: Nature reviews. Neurology. - 1759-4766. ; 20:4, s. 232-244
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Disease staging, whereby the spatial extent and load of brain pathology are used to estimate the severity ofAlzheimer disease (AD), is pivotal to the gold-standard neuropathological diagnosis of AD. Current in vivo diagnostic frameworks for AD are based on abnormal concentrations of amyloid-β and tau in the cerebrospinal fluid or on PET scans, and breakthroughs in molecular imaging have opened up the possibility of in vivo staging of AD. Focusing on the key principles of disease staging shared across several areas of medicine, this Review highlights the potential for in vivo staging of AD to transform our understanding of preclinical AD, refine enrolment criteria for trials of disease-modifying therapies and aid clinical decision-making in the era of anti-amyloid therapeutics. We provide a state-of-the-art review of recent biomarker-based AD staging systems and highlight their contributions to the understanding of the natural history of AD. Furthermore, we outline hypothetical frameworks to stage AD severity using more accessible fluid biomarkers. In addition, by applying amyloid PET-based staging to recently published anti-amyloid therapeutic trials, we highlight how biomarker-based disease staging frameworks could illustrate the numerous pathological changes that have already taken place in individuals with mildly symptomatic AD. Finally, we discuss challenges related to the validation and standardization of disease staging and provide a forward-looking perspective on potential clinical applications.
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