Metabolic and Vascular Imaging Biomarkers for Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zara Melikyan ◽  
Heather Romero ◽  
Kathleen A. Welsh-Bohmer

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in aging. Currently, therapeutic interventions are being initiated earlier in the disease course. The rationale of this strategy is to take advantage of the still healthy neuronal systems to optimize function, slow cognitive decline, and facilitate adaptive compensation in deficient brain networks. This chapter provides an overview and critique of the evidence supporting the enhancement of cognitive function at the early symptomatic stage of AD, so-called mild cognitive impairment due to AD (MCI-AD). It reviews the clinical diagnosis of MCI-AD, underscoring the differences between this condition and healthy brain aging and highlighting the importance of fluid and imaging biomarkers in ensuring reliable diagnosis and providing targets for therapeutic modification. Next, it discusses techniques to enhance cognition in MCI, with an emphasis on nonpharmacological interventional approaches. It concludes with a discussion of future challenges and opportunities in the treatment of MCI-AD.


GeroPsych ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Franke ◽  
Christian Gaser

We recently proposed a novel method that aggregates the multidimensional aging pattern across the brain to a single value. This method proved to provide stable and reliable estimates of brain aging – even across different scanners. While investigating longitudinal changes in BrainAGE in about 400 elderly subjects, we discovered that patients with Alzheimer’s disease and subjects who had converted to AD within 3 years showed accelerated brain atrophy by +6 years at baseline. An additional increase in BrainAGE accumulated to a score of about +9 years during follow-up. Accelerated brain aging was related to prospective cognitive decline and disease severity. In conclusion, the BrainAGE framework indicates discrepancies in brain aging and could thus serve as an indicator for cognitive functioning in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashok K. Shetty ◽  
Raghavendra Upadhya ◽  
Leelavathi N. Madhu ◽  
Maheedhar Kodali

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. eabb0457
Author(s):  
Yu-Hui Liu ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Qiao-Xin Li ◽  
Christopher J. Fowler ◽  
Fan Zeng ◽  
...  

The pathological relevance of naturally occurring antibodies to β-amyloid (NAbs-Aβ) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate their levels and associations with Aβ burden and cognitive decline in AD in a cross-sectional cohort from China and a longitudinal cohort from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study. NAbs-Aβ levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were tested according to their epitopes. Levels of NAbs targeting the amino terminus of Aβ increased, and those targeting the mid-domain of Aβ decreased in both CSF and plasma in AD patients. Higher plasma levels of NAbs targeting the amino terminus of Aβ and lower plasma levels of NAbs targeting the mid-domain of Aβ were associated with higher brain amyloidosis at baseline and faster cognitive decline during follow-up. Our findings suggest a dynamic response of the adaptive immune system in the progression of AD and are relevant to current passive immunotherapeutic strategies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 3702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Femminella ◽  
Tony Thayanandan ◽  
Valeria Calsolaro ◽  
Klara Komici ◽  
Giuseppe Rengo ◽  
...  

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and is a significant burden for affected patients, carers, and health systems. Great advances have been made in understanding its pathophysiology, to a point that we are moving from a purely clinical diagnosis to a biological one based on the use of biomarkers. Among those, imaging biomarkers are invaluable in Alzheimer’s, as they provide an in vivo window to the pathological processes occurring in Alzheimer’s brain. While some imaging techniques are still under evaluation in the research setting, some have reached widespread clinical use. In this review, we provide an overview of the most commonly used imaging biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease, from molecular PET imaging to structural MRI, emphasising the concept that multimodal imaging would likely prove to be the optimal tool in the future of Alzheimer’s research and clinical practice.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document