PET Amyloid and Tau Status Are Differently Affected by Patient Features

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tan, Meng-Shan^a | Yang, Yu-Xiang^b | Wang, Hui-Fu^a | Xu, Wei^a | Tan, Chen-Chen^a | Zuo, Chuan-Tao^c | Dong, Qiang^b | Tan, Lan^a | Yu, Jin-Tai^{b; *} | Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative¹

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China | [b] Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China | [c] PET Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Prof. Jin-Tai Yu, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, 12th Wulumuqi Zhong Road, Shanghai 200040, China. Tel.: +86 21 52888160; Fax:+86 21 62483421; E-mail: jintai_yu@fudan.edu.cn.

Note: [1] Data used in preparation of this article were obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database (https://adni.loni.usc.edu). As such, the investigators within the ADNI contributed to the design and implementation of ADNI and/or provided data but did not participate in analysis or writing of this report. A complete listing of ADNI investigators can be found at: https://adni.loni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/how_to_apply/ADNI_Acknowledgement_List.pdf.

Abstract: Background:Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles are two neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which both can be visualized in vivo using PET radiotracers, opening new opportunities to study disease mechanisms. Objective:Our study investigated 11 non-PET factors in 5 categories (including demographic, clinical, genetic, MRI, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) features) possibly affecting PET amyloid and tau status to explore the relationships between amyloid and tau pathology, and whether these features had a different association with amyloid and tau status. Methods:We included 372 nondemented elderly from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative cohort. All underwent PET amyloid and tau analysis simultaneously, and were grouped into amyloid/tau quadrants based on previously established abnormality cut points. We examined the associations of above selected features with PET amyloid and tau status using a multivariable logistic regression model, then explored whether there was an obvious correlation between the significant features and PET amyloid or tau levels. Results:Our results demonstrated that PET amyloid and tau status were differently affected by patient features, and CSF biomarker features provided most significant values associating PET findings. CSF Aβ42/40 was the most important factor affecting amyloid PET status, and negatively correlated with amyloid PET levels. CSF pTau could significantly influence both amyloid and tau PET status. Besides CSF pTau and Aβ42, APOE ɛ4 allele status and Mini-Mental State Examination scores also could influence tau PET status, and significantly correlated with tau PET levels. Conclusion:Our results support that tau pathology possibly affected by Aβ-independent factors, implicating the importance of tau pathology in AD pathogenesis.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-β, APOE, biomarker, cerebrospinal fluid, Mini-Mental State Examination, PET, tau

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-200124

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 1129-1136, 2020