Browsing by Author "Franzmeier, Nicolai"

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    Amyloid-associated increases in soluble tau relate to tau aggregation rates and cognitive decline in early Alzheimer’s disease
    (Springer Nature, 2022-11-04) Pichet Binette, Alexa; Franzmeier, Nicolai; Spotorno, Nicola; Ewers, Michael; Brendel, Matthias; Biel, Davina; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Strandberg, Olof; Janelidze, Shorena; Palmqvist, Sebastian; Mattsson-Carlgren, Niklas; Smith, Ruben; Stomrud, Erik; Ossenkoppele, Rik; Hansson, Oskar; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    For optimal design of anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) and anti-tau clinical trials, we need to better understand the pathophysiological cascade of Aβ- and tau-related processes. Therefore, we set out to investigate how Aβ and soluble phosphorylated tau (p-tau) relate to the accumulation of tau aggregates assessed with PET and subsequent cognitive decline across the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. Using human cross-sectional and longitudinal neuroimaging and cognitive assessment data, we show that in early stages of AD, increased concentration of soluble CSF p-tau is strongly associated with accumulation of insoluble tau aggregates across the brain, and CSF p-tau levels mediate the effect of Aβ on tau aggregation. Further, higher soluble p-tau concentrations are mainly related to faster accumulation of tau aggregates in the regions with strong functional connectivity to individual tau epicenters. In this early stage, higher soluble p-tau concentrations is associated with cognitive decline, which is mediated by faster increase of tau aggregates. In contrast, in AD dementia, when Aβ fibrils and soluble p-tau levels have plateaued, cognitive decline is related to the accumulation rate of insoluble tau aggregates. Our data suggest that therapeutic approaches reducing soluble p-tau levels might be most favorable in early AD, before widespread insoluble tau aggregates.
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    KL-VS heterozygosity is associated with lower amyloid-dependent tau accumulation and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
    (Springer Nature, 2021-06-22) Neitzel, Julia; Franzmeier, Nicolai; Rubinski, Anna; Dichgans, Martin; Brendel, Matthias; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI); Malik, Rainer; Ewers, Michael; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Klotho-VS heterozygosity (KL-VShet) is associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, whether KL-VShet is associated with lower levels of pathologic tau, i.e., the key AD pathology driving neurodegeneration and cognitive decline, is unknown. Here, we assessed the interaction between KL-VShet and levels of beta-amyloid, a key driver of tau pathology, on the levels of PET-assessed neurofibrillary tau in 551 controls and patients across the AD continuum. KL-VShet showed lower cross-sectional and longitudinal increase in tau-PET per unit increase in amyloid-PET when compared to that of non-carriers. This association of KL-VShet on tau-PET was stronger in Klotho mRNA-expressing brain regions mapped onto a gene expression atlas. KL-VShet was related to better memory functions in amyloid-positive participants and this association was mediated by lower tau-PET. Amyloid-PET levels did not differ between KL-VShet carriers versus non-carriers. Together, our findings provide evidence to suggest a protective role of KL-VShet against amyloid-related tau pathology and tau-related memory impairments in elderly humans at risk of AD dementia.
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    Pattern and implications of neurological examination findings in autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease
    (Wiley, 2023) Vöglein, Jonathan; Franzmeier, Nicolai; Morris, John C.; Dieterich, Marianne; McDade, Eric; Simons, Mikael; Preische, Oliver; Hofmann, Anna; Hassenstab, Jason; Benzinger, Tammie L.; Fagan, Anne; Noble, James M.; Berman, Sarah B.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Farlow, Martin R.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Salloway, Stephen; Xiong, Chengjie; Karch, Celeste M.; Cairns, Nigel; Perrin, Richard J.; Day, Gregory; Martins, Ralph; Sanchez-Valle, Raquel; Mori, Hiroshi; Shimada, Hiroyuki; Ikeuchi, Takeshi; Suzuki, Kazushi; Schofield, Peter R.; Masters, Colin L.; Goate, Alison; Buckles, Virginia; Fox, Nick C.; Chrem, Patricio; Allegri, Ricardo; Ringman, John M.; Yakushev, Igor; Laske, Christoph; Jucker, Mathias; Höglinger, Günter; Bateman, Randall J.; Danek, Adrian; Levin, Johannes; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: As knowledge about neurological examination findings in autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease (ADAD) is incomplete, we aimed to determine the frequency and significance of neurological examination findings in ADAD. Methods: Frequencies of neurological examination findings were compared between symptomatic mutation carriers and non mutation carriers from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) to define AD neurological examination findings. AD neurological examination findings were analyzed regarding frequency, association with and predictive value regarding cognitive decline, and association with brain atrophy in symptomatic mutation carriers. Results: AD neurological examination findings included abnormal deep tendon reflexes, gait disturbance, pathological cranial nerve examination findings, tremor, abnormal finger to nose and heel to shin testing, and compromised motor strength. The frequency of AD neurological examination findings was 65.1%. Cross-sectionally, mutation carriers with AD neurological examination findings showed a more than two-fold faster cognitive decline and had greater parieto-temporal atrophy, including hippocampal atrophy. Longitudinally, AD neurological examination findings predicted a significantly greater decline over time. Discussion: ADAD features a distinct pattern of neurological examination findings that is useful to estimate prognosis and may inform clinical care and therapeutic trial designs.
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    Segregation of functional networks is associated with cognitive resilience in Alzheimer's disease
    (Oxford University Press, 2021) Ewers, Michael; Luan, Ying; Frontzkowski, Lukas; Neitzel, Julia; Rubinski, Anna; Dichgans, Martin; Hassenstab, Jason; Gordon, Brian A.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Levin, Johannes; Schofield, Peter; Benzinger, Tammie L.S; Morris, John C.; Goate, Alison; Karch, Celeste M.; Fagan, Anne M.; McDade, Eric; Allegri, Ricardo; Berman, Sarah; Chui, Helena; Cruchaga, Carlos; Farlow, Marty; Graff-Radford, Neill; Jucker, Mathias; Lee, Jae-Hong; Martins, Ralph N.; Mori, Hiroshi; Perrin, Richard; Xiong, Chengjie; Rossor, Martin; Fox, Nick C.; O’Connor, Antoinette; Salloway, Stephen; Danek, Adrian; Buerger, Katharina; Bateman, Randall J.; Habeck, Christian; Stern, Yaakov; Franzmeier, Nicolai; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Cognitive resilience is an important modulating factor of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease, but the functional brain mechanisms that support cognitive resilience remain elusive. Given previous findings in normal ageing, we tested the hypothesis that higher segregation of the brain's connectome into distinct functional networks represents a functional mechanism underlying cognitive resilience in Alzheimer's disease. Using resting-state functional MRI, we assessed both resting-state functional MRI global system segregation, i.e. the balance of between-network to within-network connectivity, and the alternate index of modularity Q as predictors of cognitive resilience. We performed all analyses in two independent samples for validation: (i) 108 individuals with autosomal dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease and 71 non-carrier controls; and (ii) 156 amyloid-PET-positive subjects across the spectrum of sporadic Alzheimer's disease and 184 amyloid-negative controls. In the autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease sample, disease severity was assessed by estimated years from symptom onset. In the sporadic Alzheimer's sample, disease stage was assessed by temporal lobe tau-PET (i.e. composite across Braak stage I and III regions). In both samples, we tested whether the effect of disease severity on cognition was attenuated at higher levels of functional network segregation. For autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease, we found higher functional MRI-assessed system segregation to be associated with an attenuated effect of estimated years from symptom onset on global cognition (P = 0.007). Similarly, for patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease, higher functional MRI-assessed system segregation was associated with less decrement in global cognition (P = 0.001) and episodic memory (P = 0.004) per unit increase of temporal lobe tau-PET. Confirmatory analyses using the alternate index of modularity Q revealed consistent results. In conclusion, higher segregation of functional connections into distinct large-scale networks supports cognitive resilience in Alzheimer's disease.
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    The prevalence of tau‐PET positivity in aging and dementia
    (Wiley, 2025-01-09) Coomans, Emma M.; Groot, Colin; Rowe, Christopher C.; Dore, Vincent; Villemagne, Victor L.; van de Giessen, Elsmarieke; van der Flier, Wiesje M.; Pijnenburg, Yolande A. L.; Visser, Pieter Jelle; den Braber, Anouk; Pontecorvo, Michael; Shcherbinin, Sergey; Kennedy, Ian A.; Jagust, William J.; Baker, Suzanne L.; Harrison, Theresa M.; Gispert, Juan Domingo; Shekari, Mahnaz; Minguillon, Carolina; Smith, Ruben; Mattsson-Carlgren, Niklas; Palmqvist, Sebastian; Strandberg, Olof; Stomrud, Erik; Malpetti, Maura; O'Brien, John T.; Rowe, James B.; Jäger, Elena; Bischof, Gérard N.; Drzezga, Alexander; Garibotto, Valentina; Frisoni, Giovanni; Peretti, Débora Elisa; Schöll, Michael; Skoog, Ingmar; Kern, Silke; Sperling, Reisa A.; Johnson, Keith A.; Risacher, Shannon L.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Carrillo, Maria C.; Dickerson, Brad C.; Apostolova, Liana G.; Barthel, Henryk; Rullmann, Michael; Messerschmidt, Konstantin; Vandenberghe, Rik; Van Laere, Koen; Spruyt, Laure; Franzmeier, Nicolai; Brendel, Matthias; Gnörich, Johannes; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Lagarde, Julien; Sarazin, Marie; Bottlaender, Michel; Villeneuve, Sylvia; Poirier, Judes; Seo, Sang Won; Gu, Yuna; Kim, Jun Pyo; Mormino, Elizabeth; Young, Christina B.; Vossler, Hillary; Rosa-Neto, Pedro; Therriault, Joseph; Rahmouni, Nesrine; Coath, William; Cash, David M.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; La Joie, Renaud; Rosen, Howard J.; Johnson, Sterling C.; Christian, Bradley T.; Betthauser, Tobey J.; Hansson, Oskar; Ossenkoppele, Rik; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Background Tau‐PET imaging allows in‐vivo detection of neurofibrillary tangles. One tau‐PET tracer (i.e., [18F]flortaucipir) has received FDA‐approval for clinical use, and multiple other tau‐PET tracers have been implemented into clinical trials for participant selection and/or as a primary or secondary outcome measure. To optimize future use of tau‐PET, it is essential to understand how demographic, clinical and genetic factors affect tau‐PET‐positivity rates. Method This large‐scale multi‐center study includes 9713 participants from 35 cohorts worldwide who underwent tau‐PET with [18F]flortaucipir (n = 6420), [18F]RO948 (n = 1999), [18F]MK6240 (n = 878) or [18F]PI2620 (n = 416) (Table‐1). We analyzed individual‐level tau‐PET SUVR data using a cerebellar reference region that were processed either centrally (n = 3855) or by each cohort (n = 5858). We computed cohort‐specific SUVR thresholds based on the mean + 2 standard deviations in a temporal meta‐region of amyloid‐negative cognitively normal (CN) individuals aged >50. Logistic generalized estimating equations were used to estimate tau‐PET‐positivity probabilities, using an exchangeable correlation structure to account for within‐cohort correlations. Analyses were performed with (interactions between) age, amyloid‐status, and APOE‐e4 carriership as independent variables, stratified for syndrome diagnosis. Result The study included 5962 CN participants (7.5% tau‐PET‐positive), 1683 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, 33.8% tau‐PET‐positive) and 2068 participants with a clinical diagnosis of dementia (62.1% tau‐PET‐positive) (Figure‐1). From age 60 to 80 years, the estimated prevalence of tau‐PET‐positivity increased from 1.2% [95% CI: 0.9%‐1.5%] to 3.7% [2.3%‐5.1%] among CN amyloid‐negative participants; and from 16.4% [10.8%‐22.1%] to 20.5% [18.8%‐22.2%] among CN amyloid‐positive participants. Among amyloid‐negative participants with MCI and dementia, from age 60 to 80 years, the estimated prevalence of tau‐PET‐positivity increased from 3.5% [1.6%‐5.3%] to 11.8% [7.1%‐16.5%] and from 12.6% [4.5%‐20.7%] to 15.9% [6.7%‐25.1%] respectively. In contrast, among amyloid‐positive participants with MCI and dementia, from age 60 to 80 years, the estimated prevalence of tau‐PET‐positivity decreased from 66.5% [57.0%‐76.0%] to 48.3% [42.9%‐53.8%] and from 92.3% [88.7%‐95.9%] to 73.4% [67.5%‐79.3%] respectively. APOE‐e4 status primarily modulated the association of age with tau‐PET‐positivity estimates among CN and MCI amyloid‐positive participants (Figure‐2). Conclusion This large‐scale multi‐cohort study provides robust prevalence estimates of tau‐PET‐positivity, which can aid the interpretation of tau‐PET in the clinic and inform clinical trial designs.