Affiliations: [a]
Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| [b]
Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Elliott Mufson, PhD, Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Laboratory, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 W. Thomas Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA. Tel.: +1 602 406 8525; Fax: +1 602 406 8520; E-mail: elliott.mufson@dignityhealth.org.
Abstract: Background:Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a vascular neuropathology commonly reported in non-cognitively impaired (NCI), mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains. However, it is unknown whether similar findings are present in non-demented elderly subjects. Objective:This study determined the association between CAA and cognition among elderly NCI subjects with varying levels of AD pathology. Methods:Data from 182 cases that received a diagnosis of NCI at their first clinical assessment were obtained from the Rush Religious Orders study (RROS). A cognitive composite score was used to measure cognitive decline. CAA was dichotomized as present or absent. Cases were also dichotomized according to CERAD neuropathological diagnosis and Braak staging. A mixed model-repeated measures analysis assessed decline on the cognitive composite score. Results:CAA, alone, was not associated with cognitive decline [–0.87 (95% CI: –3.33, 1.58), p = 0.49]. However, among those with CAA, the High CERAD group had significantly greater decline relative to the Low CERAD group [–4.08 (95% CI: –7.10, –1.06), p = 0.008]. The High and Low CERAD groups were not significantly different [–1.77 (95% CI: –6.14, 2.60), p = 0.43] in those without CAA. Composite score decline in the High and Low Braak groups with [–1.32 (95% CI: –4.40, 1.75), p = 0.40] or without [0.27 (95% CI: –4.01, 4.56), p = 0.90] CAA was not significantly different. Conclusion:The current data shows that an interaction between CAA and plaque load is associated with greater decline on a cognitive composite score used to test non-cognitively impaired elderly participants in AD prevention trials.
