Cognitively normal women with Alzheimer's disease proteinopathy show relative preservation of memory but not of hippocampal volume.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:We examined interactive effects of sex, diagnosis, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid beta/phosphorylated tau ratio (A?/P-tau) on verbal memory and hippocampal volumes. METHODS:We assessed 682 participants (350 women) from BioFINDER (250 cognitively normal [CN]; and 432 symptomatic: 186 subjective cognitive decline [SCD], 246 mild cognitive impairment [MCI]). General linear models evaluated effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD) proteinopathy (CSF Aß/p-tau ratio), diagnosis, and sex on verbal memory (ADAS-cog 10-word recall), semantic fluency (animal naming fluency), visuospatial skills (cube copy), processing speed/attention functions (Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Trail Making Part A), and hippocampal volumes. RESULTS:Amyloid-positive (A?/P-tau+) CN women (women with preclinical AD) showed memory equivalent to amyloid-negative (A?/P-tau-) CN women. In contrast, A?/P-tau+ CN men (men with preclinical AD) showed poorer memory than A?/P-tau- CN men. Symptomatic groups showed no sex differences in effect of AD proteinopathy on memory. There was no interactive effect of sex, diagnosis, and A?/P-tau on other measures of cognition or on hippocampal volume. CONCLUSIONS:CN women show relatively preserved verbal memory, but not general cognitive reserve or preserved hippocampal volume in the presence of A?/P-tau+. Results have implications for diagnosing AD in women, and for clinical trials.
SUBMITTER: Caldwell JZK
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6933621 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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