Browsing by Author "Aschenbrenner, Andrew J."

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    A trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease
    (Springer Nature, 2021) Salloway, Stephen; Farlow, Martin; McDade, Eric; Clifford, David B.; Wang, Guoqiao; Llibre-Guerra, Jorge J.; Hitchcock, Janice M.; Mills, Susan L.; Santacruz, Anna M.; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Hassenstab, Jason; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Gordon, Brian A.; Fagan, Anne M.; Coalier, Kelley A.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison A.; Perrin, Richard J.; Xiong, Chengjie; Li, Yan; Morris, John C.; Snider, B. Joy; Mummery, Catherine; Surti, G. Mustafa; Hannequin, Didier; Wallon, David; Berman, Sarah B.; Lah, James J.; Jimenez-Velazquez, Ivonne Z.; Roberson, Erik D.; van Dyck, Christopher H.; Honig, Lawrence S.; Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Brooks, William S.; Gauthier, Serge; Galasko, Douglas R.; Masters, Colin L.; Brosch, Jared R.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Jayadev, Suman; Formaglio, Maité; Masellis, Mario; Clarnette, Roger; Pariente, Jérémie; Dubois, Bruno; Pasquier, Florence; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; Koeppe, Robert; Snyder, Peter J.; Aisen, Paul S.; Thomas, Ronald G.; Berry, Scott M.; Wendelberger, Barbara A.; Andersen, Scott W.; Holdridge, Karen C.; Mintun, Mark A.; Yaari, Roy; Sims, John R.; Baudler, Monika; Delmar, Paul; Doody, Rachelle S.; Fontoura, Paulo; Giacobino, Caroline; Kerchner, Geoffrey A.; Bateman, Randall J.; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network–Trials Unit; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (DIAD) causes predictable biological changes decades before the onset of clinical symptoms, enabling testing of interventions in the asymptomatic and symptomatic stages to delay or slow disease progression. We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-arm trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in participants with DIAD across asymptomatic and symptomatic disease stages. Mutation carriers were assigned 3:1 to either drug or placebo and received treatment for 4-7 years. The primary outcome was a cognitive end point; secondary outcomes included clinical, cognitive, imaging and fluid biomarker measures. Fifty-two participants carrying a mutation were assigned to receive gantenerumab, 52 solanezumab and 40 placebo. Both drugs engaged their Aβ targets but neither demonstrated a beneficial effect on cognitive measures compared to controls. The solanezumab-treated group showed a greater cognitive decline on some measures and did not show benefits on downstream biomarkers. Gantenerumab significantly reduced amyloid plaques, cerebrospinal fluid total tau, and phospho-tau181 and attenuated increases of neurofilament light chain. Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities edema was observed in 19.2% (3 out of 11 were mildly symptomatic) of the gantenerumab group, 2.5% of the placebo group and 0% of the solanezumab group. Gantenerumab and solanezumab did not slow cognitive decline in symptomatic DIAD. The asymptomatic groups showed no cognitive decline; symptomatic participants had declined before reaching the target doses.
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    Avoid or Embrace? Practice Effects in Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Trials
    (Frontiers Media, 2022-06-16) Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Hassenstab, Jason; Wang, Guoqiao; Li, Yan; Xiong, Chengjie; McDade, Eric; Clifford, David B.; Salloway, Stephen; Farlow, Martin; Yaari, Roy; Cheng, Eden Y. J.; Holdridge, Karen C.; Mummery, Catherine J.; Masters, Colin L.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek; Surti, Ghulam; Day, Gregory S.; Weintraub, Sandra; Honig, Lawrence S.; Galvin, James E.; Ringman, John M.; Brooks, William S.; Fox, Nick C.; Snyder, Peter J.; Suzuki, Kazushi; Shimada, Hiroyuki; Gräber, Susanne; Bateman, Randall J.; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU); Neurology, School of Medicine
    Demonstrating a slowing in the rate of cognitive decline is a common outcome measure in clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Selection of cognitive endpoints typically includes modeling candidate outcome measures in the many, richly phenotyped observational cohort studies available. An important part of choosing cognitive endpoints is a consideration of improvements in performance due to repeated cognitive testing (termed "practice effects"). As primary and secondary AD prevention trials are comprised predominantly of cognitively unimpaired participants, practice effects may be substantial and may have considerable impact on detecting cognitive change. The extent to which practice effects in AD prevention trials are similar to those from observational studies and how these potential differences impact trials is unknown. In the current study, we analyzed data from the recently completed DIAN-TU-001 clinical trial (TU) and the associated DIAN-Observational (OBS) study. Results indicated that asymptomatic mutation carriers in the TU exhibited persistent practice effects on several key outcomes spanning the entire trial duration. Critically, these practice related improvements were larger on certain tests in the TU relative to matched participants from the OBS study. Our results suggest that the magnitude of practice effects may not be captured by modeling potential endpoints in observational studies where assessments are typically less frequent and drug expectancy effects are absent. Using alternate instrument forms (represented in our study by computerized tasks) may partly mitigate practice effects in clinical trials but incorporating practice effects as outcomes may also be viable. Thus, investigators must carefully consider practice effects (either by minimizing them or modeling them directly) when designing cognitive endpoint AD prevention trials by utilizing trial data with similar assessment frequencies.
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    Awareness of Genetic Risk in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN)
    (Wiley, 2020-01) Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; James, Bryan D.; McDade, Eric; Wang, Guoqiao; Lim, Yen Ying; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison; Xiong, Chengjie; Perrin, Richard; Buckles, Virginia; Allegri, Ricardo; Berman, Sarah B.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Fagan, Anne; Farlow, Martin; O'Connor, Antoinette; Ghetti, Bernardino; Graff-Radford, Neill; Goldman, Jill; Gräber, Susanne; Karch, Celeste M.; Lee, Jae-Hong; Levin, Johannes; Martins, Ralph N.; Masters, Colin; Mori, Hiroshi; Noble, James; Salloway, Stephen; Schofield, Peter; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Hassenstab, Jason; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Although some members of families with autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease mutations learn their mutation status, most do not. How knowledge of mutation status affects clinical disease progression is unknown. This study quantifies the influence of mutation awareness on clinical symptoms, cognition, and biomarkers. Methods: Mutation carriers and non-carriers from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) were stratified based on knowledge of mutation status. Rates of change on standard clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging outcomes were examined. Results: Mutation knowledge had no associations with cognitive decline, clinical progression, amyloid deposition, hippocampal volume, or depression in either carriers or non-carriers. Carriers who learned their status mid-study had slightly higher levels of depression and lower cognitive scores. Discussion: Knowledge of mutation status does not affect rates of change on any measured outcome. Learning of status mid-study may confer short-term changes in cognitive functioning, or changes in cognition may influence the determination of mutation status.
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    Downstream Biomarker Effects of Gantenerumab or Solanezumab in Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Disease: The DIAN-TU-001 Randomized Clinical Trial
    (American Medical Association, 2024) Wagemann, Olivia; Liu, Haiyan; Wang, Guoqiao; Shi, Xinyu; Bittner, Tobias; Scelsi, Marzia A.; Farlow, Martin R.; Clifford, David B.; Supnet-Bell, Charlene; Santacruz, Anna M.; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Hassenstab, Jason J.; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Gordon, Brian A.; Coalier, Kelley A.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Ibanez, Laura; Perrin, Richard J.; Xiong, Chengjie; Li, Yan; Morris, John C.; Lah, James J.; Berman, Sarah B.; Roberson, Erik D.; van Dyck, Christopher H.; Galasko, Douglas; Gauthier, Serge; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R.; Brooks, William S.; Pariente, Jérémie; Mummery, Catherine J.; Day, Gregory S.; Ringman, John M.; Mendez, Patricio Chrem; St. George-Hyslop, Peter; Fox, Nick C.; Suzuki, Kazushi; Okhravi, Hamid R.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Levin, Johannes; Jucker, Mathias; Sims, John R.; Holdridge, Karen C.; Proctor, Nicholas K.; Yaari, Roy; Andersen, Scott W.; Mancini, Michele; Llibre-Guerra, Jorge; Bateman, Randall J.; McDade, Eric; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network–Trials Unit; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Importance: Effects of antiamyloid agents, targeting either fibrillar or soluble monomeric amyloid peptides, on downstream biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma are largely unknown in dominantly inherited Alzheimer disease (DIAD). Objective: To investigate longitudinal biomarker changes of synaptic dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration in individuals with DIAD who are receiving antiamyloid treatment. Design, setting, and participants: From 2012 to 2019, the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trial Unit (DIAN-TU-001) study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, investigated gantenerumab and solanezumab in DIAD. Carriers of gene variants were assigned 3:1 to either drug or placebo. The present analysis was conducted from April to June 2023. DIAN-TU-001 spans 25 study sites in 7 countries. Biofluids and neuroimaging from carriers of DIAD gene variants in the gantenerumab, solanezumab, and placebo groups were analyzed. Interventions: In 2016, initial dosing of gantenerumab, 225 mg (subcutaneously every 4 weeks) was increased every 8 weeks up to 1200 mg. In 2017, initial dosing of solanezumab, 400 mg (intravenously every 4 weeks) was increased up to 1600 mg every 4 weeks. Main outcomes and measures: Longitudinal changes in CSF levels of neurogranin, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (sTREM2), chitinase 3-like 1 protein (YKL-40), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light protein (NfL), and plasma levels of GFAP and NfL. Results: Of 236 eligible participants screened, 43 were excluded. A total of 142 participants (mean [SD] age, 44 [10] years; 72 female [51%]) were included in the study (gantenerumab, 52 [37%]; solanezumab, 50 [35%]; placebo, 40 [28%]). Relative to placebo, gantenerumab significantly reduced CSF neurogranin level at year 4 (mean [SD] β = -242.43 [48.04] pg/mL; P < .001); reduced plasma GFAP level at year 1 (mean [SD] β = -0.02 [0.01] ng/mL; P = .02), year 2 (mean [SD] β = -0.03 [0.01] ng/mL; P = .002), and year 4 (mean [SD] β = -0.06 [0.02] ng/mL; P < .001); and increased CSF sTREM2 level at year 2 (mean [SD] β = 1.12 [0.43] ng/mL; P = .01) and year 4 (mean [SD] β = 1.06 [0.52] ng/mL; P = .04). Solanezumab significantly increased CSF NfL (log) at year 4 (mean [SD] β = 0.14 [0.06]; P = .02). Correlation analysis for rates of change found stronger correlations between CSF markers and fluid markers with Pittsburgh compound B positron emission tomography for solanezumab and placebo. Conclusions and relevance: This randomized clinical trial supports the importance of fibrillar amyloid reduction in multiple AD-related processes of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in CSF and plasma in DIAD. Additional studies of antiaggregated amyloid therapies in sporadic AD and DIAD are needed to determine the utility of nonamyloid biomarkers in determining disease modification.
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    Investigation of sex differences in mutation carriers of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network
    (Wiley, 2024) Wagemann, Olivia; Li, Yan; Hassenstab, Jason; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; McKay, Nicole S.; Gordon, Brian A.; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Xiong, Chengjie; Cruchaga, Carlos; Renton, Alan E.; Perrin, Richard J.; Berman, Sarah B.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Farlow, Martin R.; Day, Gregory S.; Ikeuchi, Takeshi; Jucker, Mathias; Lopera, Francisco; Mori, Hiroshi; Noble, James M.; Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Schofield, Peter R.; Morris, John C.; Daniels, Alisha; Levin, Johannes; Bateman, Randall J.; McDade, Eric; Llibre-Guerra, Jorge J.; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Studies suggest distinct differences in the development, presentation, progression, and response to treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) between females and males. We investigated sex differences in cognition, neuroimaging, and fluid biomarkers in dominantly inherited AD (DIAD). Methods: Three hundred twenty-five mutation carriers (55% female) and one hundred eighty-six non-carriers (58% female) of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Observational Study were analyzed. Linear mixed models and Spearman's correlation explored cross-sectional sex differences in cognition, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, Pittsburgh compound B positron emission tomography (11 C-PiB PET) and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: Female carriers performed better than males on delayed recall and processing speed despite similar hippocampal volumes. As the disease progressed, symptomatic females revealed higher increases in MRI markers of neurodegeneration and memory impairment. PiB PET and established CSF AD markers revealed no sex differences. Discussion: Our findings suggest an initial cognitive reserve in female carriers followed by a pronounced increase in neurodegeneration coupled with worse performance on delayed recall at later stages of DIAD.
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    Longitudinal clinical, cognitive and biomarker profiles in dominantly inherited versus sporadic early-onset Alzheimer's disease
    (Oxford University Press, 2023-10-18) Llibre-Guerra, Jorge J.; Iaccarino, Leonardo; Coble, Dean; Edwards, Lauren; Li, Yan; McDade, Eric; Strom, Amelia; Gordon, Brian; Mundada, Nidhi; Schindler, Suzanne E.; Tsoy, Elena; Ma, Yinjiao; Lu, Ruijin; Fagan, Anne M.; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Soleimani-Meigooni, David; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Miller, Zachary; Wang, Guoqiao; Kramer, Joel H.; Hassenstab, Jason; Rosen, Howard J.; Morris, John C.; Miller, Bruce L.; Xiong, Chengjie; Perrin, Richard J.; Allegri, Ricardo; Chrem, Patricio; Surace, Ezequiel; Berman, Sarah B.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Masters, Colin L.; Farlow, Martin R.; Jucker, Mathias; Levin, Johannes; Fox, Nick C.; Day, Gregory; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa; Boxer, Adam L.; La Joie, Renaud; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Bateman, Randall; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Approximately 5% of Alzheimer's disease cases have an early age at onset (<65 years), with 5-10% of these cases attributed to dominantly inherited mutations and the remainder considered as sporadic. The extent to which dominantly inherited and sporadic early-onset Alzheimer's disease overlap is unknown. In this study, we explored the clinical, cognitive and biomarker profiles of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, focusing on commonalities and distinctions between dominantly inherited and sporadic cases. Our analysis included 117 participants with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease enrolled in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network and 118 individuals with sporadic early-onset Alzheimer's disease enrolled at the University of California San Francisco Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Baseline differences in clinical and biomarker profiles between both groups were compared using t-tests. Differences in the rates of decline were compared using linear mixed-effects models. Individuals with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease exhibited an earlier age-at-symptom onset compared with the sporadic group [43.4 (SD ± 8.5) years versus 54.8 (SD ± 5.0) years, respectively, P < 0.001]. Sporadic cases showed a higher frequency of atypical clinical presentations relative to dominantly inherited (56.8% versus 8.5%, respectively) and a higher frequency of APOE-ε4 (50.0% versus 28.2%, P = 0.001). Compared with sporadic early onset, motor manifestations were higher in the dominantly inherited cohort [32.5% versus 16.9% at baseline (P = 0.006) and 46.1% versus 25.4% at last visit (P = 0.001)]. At baseline, the sporadic early-onset group performed worse on category fluency (P < 0.001), Trail Making Test Part B (P < 0.001) and digit span (P < 0.001). Longitudinally, both groups demonstrated similar rates of cognitive and functional decline in the early stages. After 10 years from symptom onset, dominantly inherited participants experienced a greater decline as measured by Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes [3.63 versus 1.82 points (P = 0.035)]. CSF amyloid beta-42 levels were comparable [244 (SD ± 39.3) pg/ml dominantly inherited versus 296 (SD ± 24.8) pg/ml sporadic early onset, P = 0.06]. CSF phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 levels were higher in the dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease cohort (87.3 versus 59.7 pg/ml, P = 0.005), but no significant differences were found for t-tau levels (P = 0.35). In summary, sporadic and inherited Alzheimer's disease differed in baseline profiles; sporadic early onset is best distinguished from dominantly inherited by later age at onset, high frequency of atypical clinical presentations and worse executive performance at baseline. Despite these differences, shared pathways in longitudinal clinical decline and CSF biomarkers suggest potential common therapeutic targets for both populations, offering valuable insights for future research and clinical trial design.