Association of rapid eye movement sleep latency with multimodal biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

• Published in: Alzheimer's & dementia Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. e14495 - n/a
• Main Authors: Jin, Jiangli, Chen, Jiong, Cavaillès, Clémence, Yaffe, Kristine, Winer, Joseph, Stankeviciute, Laura, Lucey, Brendan P., Zhou, Xiao, Gao, Song, Peng, Dantao, Leng, Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley and Sons Inc 01.02.2025
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer's disease; amyloid beta; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; biomarker; Biomarkers - blood; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - blood; Cognitive Dysfunction - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neurofilament Proteins - blood; Polysomnography; Positron-Emission Tomography; rapid eye movement latency; sleep; Sleep, REM - physiology; tau Proteins - blood; sleep; rapid eye movement latency; polysomnography; biomarker; Alzheimer's disease; amyloid beta
• ISSN: 1552-5260; 1552-5279; 1552-5279
• DOI: 10.1002/alz.14495

INTRODUCTION Sleep disturbances are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), but the relationship between sleep architecture, particularly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and AD/ADRD biomarkers remains unclear. METHODS We enrolled 128 adults (64 with Alzheimer's disease, 41 with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and 23 with normal cognition [NC]), mean age 70.8 ± 9.6 years, 56.9% female, from a tertiary hospital in China. Participants underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG), amyloid β (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET), and plasma biomarker analysis: phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p‐tau181), neurofilament light (NfL), and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). RESULTS After adjusting for demographics, apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 status, cognition, and comorbidities, the highest tertile of REM latency was associated with higher Aβ burden (β = 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.03 to 0.13, p = 0.002), elevated p‐tau181 (β = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.13, p = 0.002), and reduced BDNF levels (β = ‐0.47, 95% CI: –0.68 to –0.13, p = 0.013), compared to the lowest tertile. DISCUSSION Prolonged REM latency may serve as a novel marker or risk factor for AD/ADRD pathogenesis. Highlights Rapid eye movement latency (REML) may be a potential marker for Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) pathogenesis. Prolonged REML was associated with higher amyloid beta (Aβ) burden, phosphorylated tau‐181 (p‐tau181), and lower brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Intervention trial is needed to determine if targeting REML can modify AD/ADRD risk. Slow‐wave sleep was not associated with AD/ADRD biomarkers.