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In Vivo ¹⁸F-Flortaucipir PET Does Not Accurately Support the Staging of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

ABSTRACT: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by neuroglial tau pathology. A new staging system for PSP pathology postmortem has been described and validated. We used a data-driven approach to test whether postmortem pathologic staging in PSP can be reproduced in vivo with ¹⁸F-flortaucipir PET. Methods: Forty-two patients with probable PSP and 39 controls underwent ¹⁸F-flortaucipir PET. Conditional inference tree analyses on regional binding potential values identified absent/present pathology thresholds to define in vivo staging. Following the postmortem staging approach for PSP pathology, we evaluated the combinations of absent/present pathology (or abnormal/normal PET signal) across all regions to assign each participant to in vivo stages. ANOVA was applied to analyze differences among means of disease severity between stages. In vivo staging was compared with postmortem staging in 9 patients who also had postmortem confirmation of the diagnosis and stage. Results: Stage assignment was estimable in 41 patients: 10, 26, and 5 patients were classified in stage I/II, stage III/IV, and stage V/VI, respectively, whereas 1 patient was not classifiable. Explorative substaging identified 2 patients in stage I, 8 in stage II, 9 in stage III, 17 in stage IV, and 5 in stage V. However, the nominal ¹⁸F-flortaucipir--derived stage was not associated with clinical severity and was not indicative of pathology staging postmortem. Conclusion: ¹⁸F-flortaucipir PET in vivo does not correspond to neuropathologic staging in PSP. This analytic approach, seeking to mirror in vivo neuropathology staging with PET-to-autopsy correlational analyses, might enable in vivo staging with next-generation tau PET tracers; however, further evidence and comparisons with postmortem data are needed.

SUBMITTER: Malpetti M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7612961 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:PurposeThe pattern of flortaucipir tau PET uptake is topographically similar to the pattern of magnetic susceptibility in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP); both with increased signal in subcortical structures such as the basal ganglia and midbrain, suggesting that they may be closely related. However, their relationship remains unknown since no studies have directly compared these two modalities in the same PSP cohort. We hypothesized that some flortaucipir uptake in PSP is associated with magnetic susceptibility, and hence iron deposition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the regional relationship between flortaucipir uptake and magnetic susceptibility and to examine the effects of susceptibility on flortaucipir uptake in PSP.MethodsFifty PSP patients and 67 cognitively normal controls were prospectively recruited and underwent three Tesla MRI and flortaucipir tau PET scans. Quantitative susceptibility maps were reconstructed from multi-echo gradient-echo MRI images. Region of interest (ROI) analysis was performed to obtain flortaucipir and susceptibility values in the subcortical regions. Relationships between flortaucipir and susceptibility signals were evaluated using partial correlation analysis in the subcortical ROIs and voxel-based analysis in the whole brain. The effects of susceptibility on flortaucipir uptake were examined by using the framework of mediation analysis.ResultsBoth flortaucipir and susceptibility were greater in PSP compared to controls in the putamen, pallidum, subthalamic nucleus, red nucleus, and cerebellar dentate (p<0.05). The ROI-based and voxel-based analyses showed that these two signals were positively correlated in these five regions (r = 0.36-0.59, p<0.05). Mediation analysis showed that greater flortaucipir uptake was partially explained by susceptibility in the putamen, pallidum, subthalamic nucleus, and red nucleus, and fully explained in the cerebellar dentate.ConclusionsThese results suggest that some of the flortaucipir uptake in subcortical regions in PSP is related to iron deposition. These findings will contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying flortaucipir tau PET findings in PSP and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Project description:Background and purposeProgressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative tauopathy that is associated with different clinical variants, including PSP-Richardson's syndrome (PSP-RS), PSP-parkinsonism (PSP-P), PSP-corticobasal syndrome (PSP-CBS), PSP-frontal (PSP-F), PSP-progressive gait freezing (PSP-PGF) and PSP-speech/language (PSP-SL). While PSP-RS has been well-characterized on neuroimaging, the characteristics of the other atypical variants are less well defined and it is unknown how they compare to each other or relate to neuropathology. We aimed to assess and compare regional atrophy on MRI and [18F]flortaucipir uptake on PET across PSP variants.Materials and methods105 PSP patients (53 PSP-RS, 23 PSP-SL, 12 PSP-P, 8 PSP-CBS, 5 PSP-F and 4 PSP-PGF) underwent volumetric MRI, with 59 of these also undergoing flortaucipir PET. Voxel-level and region-level analyses were performed comparing PSP variants to 30 controls and to each other. Semi-quantitative tau burden measurements were also performed in 21 patients with autopsy-confirmed PSP.ResultsAll variants showed evidence for atrophy or increased flortaucipir uptake in striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus. Superior cerebellar peduncle volume loss was only observed in PSP-RS, PSP-CBS and PSP-F. Volume loss in the frontal lobes was observed in PSP-SL, PSP-CBS and PSP-F, with these variants also showing highest cortical tau burden at autopsy. The PSP-P and PSP-PGF variants showed more restricted patterns of neurodegeneration predominantly involving striatum, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus and thalamus. The PSP-SL variant showed greater volume loss and flortaucipir uptake in supplementary motor area and motor cortex compared to all other variants, but showed less involvement of subthalamic nucleus and midbrain. Compared to PSP-RS, PSP-P had larger midbrain volume and greater flortaucipir uptake in putamen.ConclusionThe PSP variants have different patterns of involvement of subcortical circuitry, perhaps suggesting different patterns of disease spread through the brain. These findings will be important in the development of appropriate neuroimaging biomarkers for the different PSP variants.

Project description:PurposeHuman post mortem studies have described the topographical patterns of tau pathology in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Recent advances in tau PET tracers are expected to herald the next era of PSP investigation for early detection of tau pathology in living brains. This study aimed to investigate whether 18F-Florzolotau PET imaging may capture the distribution patterns and regional vulnerability of tau pathology in PSP, and to devise a novel image-based staging system.MethodsThe study cohort consisted of 148 consecutive patients with PSP who had undergone 18F-Florzolotau PET imaging. The PSP rating scale (PSPrs) was used to measure disease severity. Similarities and differences of tau deposition among different clinical phenotypes were examined at the regional and voxel levels. An 18F-Florzolotau pathological staging system was devised according to the scheme originally developed for post mortem data. In light of conditional probabilities for the sequence of events, an 18F-Florzolotau modified staging system by integrating clusters at the regional level was further developed. The ability of 18F-Florzolotau staging systems to reflect disease severity in terms of PSPrs score was assessed by analysis of variance.ResultsThe distribution patterns of 18F-Florzolotau accumulation in living brains of PSP showed a remarkable similarity to those reported in post mortem studies, with the binding intensity being markedly higher in Richardson's syndrome. Moreover, 18F-Florzolotau PET imaging allowed detecting regional vulnerability and tracking tau accumulation in an earlier fashion compared with post mortem immunostaining. The 18F-Florzolotau staging systems were positively correlated with clinical severity as reflected by PSPrs scores.Conclusions18F-Florzolotau PET imaging can effectively capture the distribution patterns and regional vulnerability of tau pathology in PSP. The 18F-Florzolotau modified staging system holds promise for early tracking of tau deposition in living brains.

Project description:Primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) is a term used to describe a neurodegenerative condition in which apraxia of speech (AOS; a planning and/or programming deficit) occurs in the absence of aphasia (a language deficit). PPAOS is strongly associated with 4-repeat tau pathology. Elevated flortaucipir ([18F]AV-1451; FTP) uptake has been observed cross-sectionally in patients with PPAOS and those with aphasia. Here, we evaluated longitudinal changes in previously-identified regions of uptake and their relationship with clinical presentation. Thirteen patients who were diagnosed with PPAOS (5 female) at presentation underwent FTP PET imaging at two visits (mean 1 year interval). Median age was 72, with a median of 4 years disease duration at initial testing. Beta-amyloid status was assessed with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB), where a global PiB ratio>1.48 was deemed amyloid positive (n = 4). FTP uptake was assessed as cortical to cerebellar crus ratios (SUVr) in cortical regions of interest. A single hierarchical linear model (HLM) compared PPAOS patients to 52 cognitively unimpaired controls of similar age and sex. Annualized SUVr change was the outcome, predicted by region, clinical status, and age. Person-specific effects accounted for intra-patient correlations and contralateral regions were included as repeated measures. Changes in clinical measures were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests; statistically significant changes in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MDS-UPDRS, motor section, and PSP Rating Scale were noted between visits. Changes in FTP SUVr were greater for patients than controls. The strongest changes in PPAOS patients were in the precentral gyrus, pallidum, and mid and superior frontal gyri, per the HLM. Qualitatively, larger changes were seen in patients who had developed aphasia by the time of their baseline scan (n = 5). While the biological mechanisms of FTP signal in non-AD tauopathies are unknown, this study demonstrates the utility of FTP in tracking disease progression in 4R tauopathies.

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In Vivo ¹⁸F-Flortaucipir PET Does Not Accurately Support the Staging of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

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In Vivo 18F-Flortaucipir PET Does Not Accurately Support the Staging of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

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OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

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In Vivo ¹⁸F-Flortaucipir PET Does Not Accurately Support the Staging of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.