Vascular and Alzheimer's disease markers independently predict brain atrophy rate in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative controls

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 34; no. 8; pp. 1996 - 2002
• Main Authors: Barnes, Josephine, Carmichael, Owen T., Leung, Kelvin K., Schwarz, Christopher, Ridgway, Gerard R., Bartlett, Jonathan W., Malone, Ian B., Schott, Jonathan M., Rossor, Martin N., Biessels, Geert Jan, DeCarli, Charlie, Fox, Nick C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aged; Aging; Alzheimer Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid beta-Peptides - cerebrospinal fluid; Atrophy; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Brain - metabolism; Brain - pathology; Cerebral Arteries - pathology; Cognitive Dysfunction - cerebrospinal fluid; Cognitive Dysfunction - pathology; Disease Progression; Female; Functional Neuroimaging; Humans; Internal Medicine; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mild cognitive impairment (MCI); Neurology; Normal aging; Peptide Fragments - cerebrospinal fluid; tau Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid; Vascular disease; Volumetric MRI; Vascular disease; Volumetric MRI; Normal aging; Alzheimer's disease; Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.02.003

This study assessed relationships among white matter hyperintensities (WMH), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology markers, and brain volume loss. Subjects included 197 controls, 331 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 146 individuals with AD with serial volumetric 1.5-T MRI. CSF Aβ1-42 (n = 351) and tau (n = 346) were measured. Brain volume change was quantified using the boundary shift integral (BSI). We assessed the association between baseline WMH volume and annualized BSI, adjusting for intracranial volume. We also performed multiple regression analyses in the CSF subset, assessing the relationships of WMH and Aβ1-42 and/or tau with BSI. WMH burden was positively associated with BSI in controls (p = 0.02) but not MCI or AD. In multivariable models, WMH (p = 0.003) and Aβ1-42 (p = 0.001) were independently associated with BSI in controls; in MCI Aβ1-42 (p < 0.001) and tau (p = 0.04) were associated with BSI. There was no evidence of independent effects of WMH or CSF measures on BSI in AD. These data support findings that vascular damage is associated with increased brain atrophy in the context of AD pathology in pre-dementia stages.