1. |
- Law, Lena L, et al.
(author)
-
Moderate intensity physical activity associates with CSF biomarkers in a cohort at risk for Alzheimer's disease.
- 2018
-
In: Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). - : Wiley. - 2352-8729. ; 10, s. 188-195
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of amyloid β (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neurodegeneration, evidence of which may be detected invivo via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling. Physical activity (PA) has emerged as a possible modifier of these AD-related pathological changes. Consequently, the aim of this study was to cross-sectionally examine the relationship between objectively measured PA and CSF levels of Aβ42 and tau in asymptomatic late-middle-aged adults at risk for AD.Eighty-five cognitively healthy late-middle-aged adults (age=64.31years, 61.2% female) from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention participated in this study. They wore an accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X+) for one week to record free-living PA, yielding measures of sedentariness and various intensities of PA (i.e., light, moderate, and vigorous). They also underwent lumbar puncture to collect CSF, from which Aβ42, total tau, and phosphorylated tau were immunoassayed. Regression analyses were used to examine the association between accelerometer measures and CSF biomarkers, adjusting for age, sex, and other relevant covariates.Engagement in moderate PA was associated with higher Aβ42 (P=.008), lower total tau/Aβ42 (P=.006), and lower phosphorylated tau/Aβ42 (P=.030). In contrast, neither light nor vigorous PA was associated with any of the biomarkers. Increased sedentariness was associated with reduced Aβ42 (P=.014).In this cohort, moderate PA, but not light or vigorous, was associated with a favorable AD biomarker profile, while sedentariness was associated with greater Aβ burden. These findings suggest that a physically active lifestyle may play a protective role against the development of AD.
|
|
2. |
- Schultz, Stephanie A, et al.
(author)
-
Cardiorespiratory fitness alters the influence of a polygenic risk score on biomarkers of AD.
- 2017
-
In: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 88:17, s. 1650-1658
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To examine whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from APOE4, CLU, and ABCA7 is associated with CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology and whether higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) modifies the association between the PRS and CSF biomarkers.Ninety-five individuals from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention were included in these cross-sectional analyses. They were genotyped for APOE4, CLU, and ABCA7, from which a PRS was calculated for each participant. The participants underwent lumbar puncture for CSF collection. β-Amyloid 42 (Aβ42), Aβ40, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) were quantified by immunoassays, and Aβ42/Aβ40 and tau/Aβ42 ratios were computed. CRF was estimated from a validated equation incorporating sex, age, body mass index, resting heart rate, and self-reported physical activity. Covariate-adjusted regression analyses were used to test for associations between the PRS and CSF biomarkers. In addition, by including a PRS×CRF term in the models, we examined whether these associations were modified by CRF.A higher PRS was associated with lower Aβ42/Aβ40 (p < 0.001), higher t-tau/Aβ42 (p = 0.012), and higher p-tau/Aβ42 (p = 0.040). Furthermore, we observed PRS × CRF interactions for Aβ42/Aβ40 (p = 0.003), t-tau/Aβ42 (p = 0.003), and p-tau/Aβ42 (p = 0.001). Specifically, the association between the PRS and these CSF biomarkers was diminished in those with higher CRF.In a late-middle-aged cohort, CRF attenuates the adverse influence of genetic vulnerability on CSF biomarkers. These findings support the notion that increased cardiorespiratory fitness may be beneficial to those at increased genetic risk for AD.
|
|
3. |
|
|
4. |
- Berman, Sara E, et al.
(author)
-
Intracranial Arterial 4D Flow in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment is Associated with Cognitive Performance and Amyloid Positivity.
- 2017
-
In: Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. - 1875-8908. ; 60:1, s. 243-252
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is becoming increasingly recognized that cerebrovascular disease is a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A unique 4D-Flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, phase contrast vastly undersampled isotropic projection imaging (PC VIPR), enables examination of angiographic and quantitative metrics of blood flow in the arteries of the Circle of Willis within a single MRI acquisition. Thirty-eight participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) underwent a comprehensive neuroimaging protocol (including 4D-Flow imaging) and a standard neuropsychological battery. A subset of participants (n=22) also underwent lumbar puncture and had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assayed for AD biomarkers. Cut-offs for biomarker positivity in CSF resulting from a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of AD cases and controls from the larger Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center cohort were used to classify MCI participants as biomarker positive or negative on amyloid-β (Aβ42), total-tau and total-tau/Aβ42 ratio. Internal carotid artery (ICA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) mean flow were associated with executive functioning performance, with lower mean flow corresponding to worse performance. MCI participants who were biomarker positive for Aβ42 had lower ICA mean flow than did those who were Aβ42 negative. In sum, mean ICA and MCA arterial flow was associated with cognitive performance in participants with MCI and lower flow in the ICA was associated with amyloid positivity. This provides further evidence for vascular health as a contributing factor in the etiopathogenesis of AD, and could represent a point to intervene in the disease process.
|
|
5. |
- Berman, Sara E, et al.
(author)
-
Intracranial Arterial 4D-Flow is Associated with Metrics of Brain Health and Alzheimer's Disease.
- 2015
-
In: Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). - : Wiley. - 2352-8729. ; 1:4, s. 420-428
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While cerebrovascular disease has long been known to co-occur with Alzheimer's disease (AD), recent studies suggest an etiologic contribution to AD pathogenesis. We used 4D-Flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate blood flow and pulsatility indices in the Circle of Willis. We hypothesized decreased mean blood flow and increased pulsatility, metrics indicative of poor vascular health, would be associated with cerebral atrophy and an AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) profile.
|
|
6. |
- Clark, Lindsay R, et al.
(author)
-
Age-accelerated cognitive decline in asymptomatic adults with CSF β-amyloid.
- 2018
-
In: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 90:15
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compare cognitive and hippocampal volume trajectories in asymptomatic middle-aged and older adults with positive CSF markers of β-amyloid (Aβ) or tau to adults without an Alzheimer disease (AD)-associated biomarker profile.Three hundred ninety-two adults enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study (Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention or Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center) completed a lumbar puncture and at least 2 biennial or annual neuropsychological evaluations. Cutoffs for Aβ42, total tau, and phosphorylated tau were developed via receiver operating characteristic curve analyses on a sample of 78 participants (38 dementia, 40 controls). These cutoffs were applied to a separate sample of 314 cognitively healthy adults (mean age at CSF collection = 61.5 years), and mixed-effects regression analyses tested linear and quadratic interactions of biomarker group × age at each visit on cognitive and hippocampal volume outcomes.Two hundred fifteen participants (69%) were biomarker negative (preclinical AD stage 0), 46 (15%) were Aβ+ only (preclinical AD stage 1), 25 (8%) were Aβ+ and tau+ (preclinical AD stage 2), and 28 (9%) were tau+ only. Both stage 1 and stage 2 groups exhibited greater rates of linear decline on story memory and processing speed measures, and nonlinear decline on list-learning and set-shifting measures compared to stage 0. The tau+ only group did not significantly differ from stage 0 in rates of cognitive decline.In an asymptomatic at-risk cohort, elevated CSF Aβ (with or without elevated tau) was associated with greater rates of cognitive decline, with the specific pattern of decline varying across cognitive measures.
|
|
7. |
- Dean, Douglas C, et al.
(author)
-
Association of Amyloid Pathology With Myelin Alteration in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease.
- 2017
-
In: JAMA neurology. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 2168-6157 .- 2168-6149. ; 74:1, s. 41-49
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The accumulation of aggregated β-amyloid and tau proteins into plaques and tangles is a central feature of Alzheimer disease (AD). While plaque and tangle accumulation likely contributes to neuron and synapse loss, disease-related changes to oligodendrocytes and myelin are also suspected of playing a role in development of AD dementia. Still, to our knowledge, little is known about AD-related myelin changes, and even when present, they are often regarded as secondary to concomitant arteriosclerosis or related to aging.To assess associations between hallmark AD pathology and novel quantitative neuroimaging markers while being sensitive to white matter myelin content.Magnetic resonance imaging was performed at an academic research neuroimaging center on a cohort of 71 cognitively asymptomatic adults enriched for AD risk. Lumbar punctures were performed and assayed for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD pathology, including β-amyloid 42, total tau protein, phosphorylated tau 181, and soluble amyloid precursor protein. We measured whole-brain longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates as well as the myelin water fraction from each of these individuals.Automated brain mapping algorithms and statistical models were used to evaluate the relationships between age, CSF biomarkers of AD pathology, and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging relaxometry measures, including the longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates and the myelin water fraction.The mean (SD) age for the 19 male participants and 52 female participants in the study was 61.6 (6.4) years. Widespread age-related changes to myelin were observed across the brain, particularly in late myelinating brain regions such as frontal white matter and the genu of the corpus callosum. Quantitative relaxometry measures were negatively associated with levels of CSF biomarkers across brain white matter and in areas preferentially affected in AD. Furthermore, significant age-by-biomarker interactions were observed between myelin water fraction and phosphorylated tau 181/β-amyloid 42, suggesting that phosphorylated tau 181/β-amyloid 42 levels modulate age-related changes in myelin water fraction.These findings suggest amyloid pathologies significantly influence white matter and that these abnormalities may signify an early feature of the disease process. We expect that clarifying the nature of myelin damage in preclinical AD may be informative on the disease's course and lead to new markers of efficacy for prevention and treatment trials.
|
|
8. |
- Jonaitis, Erin M, et al.
(author)
-
Measuring longitudinal cognition: Individual tests versus composites.
- 2019
-
In: Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). - : Wiley. - 2352-8729. ; 11, s. 74-84
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Longitudinal cohort studies of cognitive aging must confront several sources of within-person variability in scores. In this article, we compare several neuropsychological measures in terms of longitudinal error variance and relationships with biomarker-assessed brain amyloidosis (Aβ).Analyses used data from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention. We quantified within-person longitudinal variability and age-related trajectories for several global and domain-specific composites and their constituent scores. For a subset with cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid positron emission tomography measures, we examined how Aβ modified cognitive trajectories.Global and theoretically derived composites exhibited lower intraindividual variability and stronger age × Aβ interactions than did empirically derived composites or raw scores from single tests. For example, the theoretical executive function outperformed other executive function scores on both metrics.These results reinforce the need for careful selection of cognitive outcomes in study design, and support the emerging consensus favoring composites over single-test measures.
|
|
9. |
- Kim, Won Hwa, et al.
(author)
-
Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of neurofibrillary tangles and synaptic dysfunction are associated with longitudinal decline in white matter connectivity: A multi-resolution graph analysis.
- 2019
-
In: NeuroImage. Clinical. - : Elsevier BV. - 2213-1582. ; 21
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In addition to the development of beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, Alzheimer's disease (AD) involves the loss of connecting structures including degeneration of myelinated axons and synaptic connections. However, the extent to which white matter tracts change longitudinally, particularly in the asymptomatic, preclinical stage of AD, remains poorly characterized. In this study we used a novel graph wavelet algorithm to determine the extent to which microstructural brain changes evolve in concert with the development of AD neuropathology as observed using CSF biomarkers. A total of 118 participants with at least two diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans and one lumbar puncture for CSF were selected from two observational and longitudinally followed cohorts. CSF was assayed for pathology specific to AD (Aβ42 and phosphorylated-tau), neurodegeneration (total-tau), axonal degeneration (neurofilament light chain protein; NFL), and synaptic degeneration (neurogranin). Tractography was performed on DTI scans to obtain structural connectivity networks with 160 nodes where the nodes correspond to specific brain regions of interest (ROIs) and their connections were defined by DTI metrics (i.e., fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)). For the analysis, we adopted a multi-resolution graph wavelet technique called Wavelet Connectivity Signature (WaCS) which derives higher order representations from DTI metrics at each brain connection. Our statistical analysis showed interactions between the CSF measures and the MRI time interval, such that elevated CSF biomarkers and longer time were associated with greater longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure (decreasing FA and increasing MD). Specifically, we detected a total of 17 fiber tracts whose WaCS representations showed an association between longitudinal decline in white matter microstructure and both CSF p-tau and neurogranin. While development of neurofibrillary tangles and synaptic degeneration are cortical phenomena, the results show that they are also associated with degeneration of underlying white matter tracts, a process which may eventually play a role in the development of cognitive decline and dementia.
|
|
10. |
|
|