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APOE predicts amyloid-beta but not tau Alzheimer pathology in cognitively normal aging.

ABSTRACT: To examine interactions of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype with age and with in vivo measures of preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD) in cognitively normal aging.Two hundred forty-one cognitively normal individuals, aged 45-88 years, had cerebral amyloid imaging studies with Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB). Of the 241 individuals, 168 (70%) also had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays of amyloid-beta(42) (Abeta(42)), tau, and phosphorylated tau (ptau(181)). All individuals were genotyped for APOE.The frequency of individuals with elevated mean cortical binding potential (MCBP) for PIB rose in an age-dependent manner from 0% at ages 45-49 years to 30.3% at 80-88 years. Reduced levels of CSF Abeta(42) appeared to begin earlier (18.2% of those aged 45-49 years) and increase with age in higher frequencies (50% at age 80-88 years) than elevations of MCBP. There was a gene dose effect for the APOE4 genotype, with greater MCBP increases and greater reductions in CSF Abeta(42) with increased numbers of APOE4 alleles. Individuals with an APOE2 allele had no increase in MCBP with age and had higher CSF Abeta(42) levels than individuals without an APOE2 allele. There was no APOE4 or APOE2 effect on CSF tau or ptau(181).Increasing cerebral Abeta deposition with age is the pathobiological phenotype of APOE4. The biomarker sequence that detects Abeta deposition may first be lowered CSF Abeta(42), followed by elevated MCBP for PIB. A substantial proportion of cognitively normal individuals have presumptive preclinical AD.

SUBMITTER: Morris JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2830375 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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APOE predicts amyloid-beta but not tau Alzheimer pathology in cognitively normal aging.

Morris John C JC Roe Catherine M CM Xiong Chengjie C Fagan Anne M AM Goate Alison M AM Holtzman David M DM Mintun Mark A MA

Annals of neurology 20100101 1

<h4>Objective</h4>To examine interactions of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype with age and with in vivo measures of preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD) in cognitively normal aging.<h4>Methods</h4>Two hundred forty-one cognitively normal individuals, aged 45-88 years, had cerebral amyloid imaging studies with Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB). Of the 241 individuals, 168 (70%) also had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays of amyloid-beta(42) (Abeta(42)), tau, and phosphorylated tau (ptau(181)). All individu ...[more]

PMID: 20186853

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Project description:Current approaches to the early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rely upon classifying individuals as "positive" or "negative" for biomarkers related to the core pathology of ?-amyloid (A?). However, the accumulation of A? begins slowly, years before biomarkers become abnormal. We used longitudinal [11C] Pittsburgh Compound B PET scanning and neuropsychological assessment to investigate the earliest changes in AD pathology and how it affects memory in cognitively normal older humans (N = 71; mean age 75 years; 35% male). We used [18F] AV-1451 PET scanning at the end of the observation period to measure subsequent tau deposition in a subset of our sample (N = 37). We found evidence for an inverted-U relationship between baseline A? levels and A? slope in asymptomatic older adults, suggesting a slowing of A? accumulation even in cognitively normal adults. In participants who were nominally amyloid negative, both the rate of amyloid accumulation and the baseline levels of A? predicted early tau deposition in cortical Braak regions associated with AD. Amyloid measures were only sensitive to memory decline as baseline levels of A? increased, suggesting that pathological accumulation occurs before impacting memory. These findings support the necessity of early intervention with amyloid-lowering therapies even in those who are amyloid negative.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) necessitates the earliest possible detection of pathological or cognitive change if disease progression is to be slowed. We examined cognitively normal older adults in whom AD pathology is starting to develop, with the goal of early detection of AD pathology or cognitive changes. We found amyloid measures to be sensitive early on in predicting subsequent early tau deposition. Further, it appears that rates of amyloid accumulation already begin to slow in preclinical AD, suggesting that it is a relatively late stage of AD progression. Thus, it is crucial to examine older adults early, before amyloid levels have saturated, to intervene to slow disease progression.

Dataset Information

APOE predicts amyloid-beta but not tau Alzheimer pathology in cognitively normal aging.

Publications

APOE predicts amyloid-beta but not tau Alzheimer pathology in cognitively normal aging.

Similar Datasets

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