Browsing by Author "Pascual, Belen"
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Item Brain inflammation co-localizes highly with tau in mild cognitive impairment due to early-onset Alzheimer's disease(Oxford University Press, 2025) Appleton, Johanna; Finn, Quentin; Zanotti-Fregonara, Paolo; Yu, Meixiang; Faridar, Alireza; Nakawah, Mohammad O.; Zarate, Carlos; Carrillo, Maria C.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Apostolova, Liana G.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Pascual, Belen; Neurology, School of MedicineBrain inflammation, with an increased density of microglia and macrophages, is an important component of Alzheimer's disease and a potential therapeutic target. However, it is incompletely characterized, particularly in patients whose disease begins before the age of 65 years and, thus, have few co-pathologies. Inflammation has been usefully imaged with translocator protein (TSPO) PET, but most inflammation PET tracers cannot image subjects with a low-binder TSPO rs6971 genotype. In an important development, participants with any TSPO genotype can be imaged with a novel tracer, 11C-ER176, that has a high binding potential and a more favourable metabolite profile than other TSPO tracers currently available. We applied 11C-ER176 to detect brain inflammation in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) caused by early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, we sought to correlate the brain localization of inflammation, volume loss, elevated amyloid-β (Aβ)and tau. We studied brain inflammation in 25 patients with early-onset amnestic MCI (average age 59 ± 4.5 years, 10 female) and 23 healthy controls (average age 65 ± 6.0 years, 12 female), both groups with a similar proportion of all three TSPO-binding affinities. 11C-ER176 total distribution volume (VT), obtained with an arterial input function, was compared across patients and controls using voxel-wise and region-wise analyses. In addition to inflammation PET, most MCI patients had Aβ (n = 23) and tau PET (n = 21). For Aβ and tau tracers, standard uptake value ratios were calculated using cerebellar grey matter as region of reference. Regional correlations among the three tracers were determined. Data were corrected for partial volume effect. Cognitive performance was studied with standard neuropsychological tools. In MCI caused by early-onset Alzheimer's disease, there was inflammation in the default network, reaching statistical significance in precuneus and lateral temporal and parietal association cortex bilaterally, and in the right amygdala. Topographically, inflammation co-localized most strongly with tau (r = 0.63 ± 0.24). This correlation was higher than the co-localization of Aβ with tau (r = 0.55 ± 0.25) and of inflammation with Aβ (0.43 ± 0.22). Inflammation co-localized least with atrophy (-0.29 ± 0.26). These regional correlations could be detected in participants with any of the three rs6971 TSPO polymorphisms. Inflammation in Alzheimer's disease-related regions correlated with impaired cognitive scores. Our data highlight the importance of inflammation, a potential therapeutic target, in the Alzheimer's disease process. Furthermore, they support the notion that, as shown in experimental tissue and animal models, the propagation of tau in humans is associated with brain inflammation.Item Comprehensive cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of plasma neurofilament light across FTD spectrum disorders(Elsevier, 2022) Gendron, Tania F.; Heckman, Michael G.; White, Launia J.; Veire, Austin M.; Pedraza, Otto; Burch, Alexander R.; Bozoki, Andrea C.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Foroud, Tatiana; Forsberg, Leah K.; Galasko, Douglas R.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grossman, Murray; Heuer, Hilary W.; Huey, Edward D.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R.; Irwin, David J.; Kaufer, Daniel I.; Leger, Gabriel C.; Litvan, Irene; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Pascual, Belen; Ritter, Aaron; Roberson, Erik D.; Rojas, Julio C.; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; Wszolek, Zbigniew K.; Rosen, Howard; Boeve, Bradley F.; Boxer, Adam L.; ALLFTD consortium; Petrucelli, Leonard; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineFrontotemporal dementia (FTD) therapy development is hamstrung by a lack of susceptibility, diagnostic, and prognostic biomarkers. Blood neurofilament light (NfL) shows promise as a biomarker, but studies have largely focused only on core FTD syndromes, often grouping patients with different diagnoses. To expedite the clinical translation of NfL, we avail ARTFL LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ALLFTD) study resources and conduct a comprehensive investigation of plasma NfL across FTD syndromes and in presymptomatic FTD mutation carriers. We find plasma NfL is elevated in all studied syndromes, including mild cases; increases in presymptomatic mutation carriers prior to phenoconversion; and associates with indicators of disease severity. By facilitating the identification of individuals at risk of phenoconversion, and the early diagnosis of FTD, plasma NfL can aid in participant selection for prevention or early treatment trials. Moreover, its prognostic utility would improve patient care, clinical trial efficiency, and treatment outcome estimations.Item Comprehensive cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light across FTD spectrum disorders(Springer Nature, 2025-03-12) Sheth, Udit; Öijerstedt, Linn; Heckman, Michael G.; White, Launia J.; Heuer, Hilary W.; Lago, Argentina Lario; Forsberg, Leah K.; Faber, Kelley M.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Rademakers, Rosa; Ramos, Eliana Marisa; Appleby, Brian S.; Bozoki, Andrea C.; Darby, R. Ryan; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Galasko, Douglas R.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grant, Ian M.; Hales, Chadwick M.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Huey, Edward D.; Irwin, David; Kwan, Justin Y.; Litvan, Irene; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Pascual, Belen; Pressman, Peter S.; Roberson, Erik D.; Snyder, Allison; Tartaglia, M. Carmela; Seeley, William W.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Rosen, Howard J.; Boeve, Bradley F.; Boxer, Adam L.; Petrucelli, Leonard; Gendron, Tania F.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBackground: Therapeutic development for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is hindered by the lack of biomarkers that inform susceptibility/risk, prognosis, and the underlying causative pathology. Blood glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has garnered attention as a FTD biomarker. However, investigations of GFAP in FTD have been hampered by symptomatic and histopathologic heterogeneity and small cohort sizes contributing to inconsistent findings. Therefore, we evaluated plasma GFAP as a FTD biomarker and compared its performance to that of neurofilament light (NfL) protein, a leading FTD biomarker. Methods: We availed ARTFL LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ALLFTD) study resources to conduct a comprehensive cross-sectional and longitudinal examination of the susceptibility/risk, prognostic, and predictive performance of GFAP and NfL in the largest series of well-characterized presymptomatic FTD mutation carriers and participants with sporadic or familial FTD syndromes. Utilizing single molecule array technology, we measured GFAP and NfL in plasma from 161 controls, 127 presymptomatic mutation carriers, 702 participants with a FTD syndrome, and 67 participants with mild behavioral and/or cognitive changes. We used multivariable linear regression and Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for co-variates to examine the biomarker utility of baseline GFAP and NfL concentrations or their rates of change. Results: Compared to controls, GFAP and NfL were elevated in each FTD syndrome but GFAP, unlike NfL, poorly discriminated controls from participants with mild symptoms. Similarly, both baseline GFAP and NfL were higher in presymptomatic mutation carriers who later phenoconverted, but NfL better distinguished non-converters from phenoconverters. We additionally observed that GFAP and NfL were associated with disease severity indicators and survival, but NfL far outperformed GFAP. Nevertheless, we validated findings that the GFAP/NfL ratio may discriminate frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau versus TDP-43 pathology. Conclusions: Our head-to-head comparison of plasma GFAP and NfL as biomarkers for FTD indicate that NfL consistently outmatched GFAP as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for participants with a FTD syndrome, and as a susceptibility/risk biomarker for people at genetic risk of FTD. Our findings underscore the need to include leading biomarkers in investigations evaluating new biomarkers if the field is to fully ascertain their performance and clinical value.Item Proposed research criteria for prodromal behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia(Oxford University Press, 2022) Barker, Megan S.; Gottesman, Reena T.; Manoochehri, Masood; Chapman, Silvia; Appleby, Brian S.; Brushaber, Danielle; Devick, Katrina L.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Fields, Julie A.; Forsberg, Leah K.; Galasko, Douglas R.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Goldman, Jill; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grossman, Murray; Heuer, Hilary W.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek; Knopman, David S.; Kornak, John; Litvan, Irene; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Pascual, Belen; Staffaroni, Adam M.; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; Boeve, Bradley F.; Boxer, Adam L.; Rosen, Howard J.; Rankin, Katherine P.; Cosentino, Stephanie; Rascovsky, Katya; Huey, Edward D.; ALLFTD Consortium; Neurology, School of MedicineAt present, no research criteria exist for the diagnosis of prodromal behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), though early detection is of high research importance. Thus, we sought to develop and validate a proposed set of research criteria for prodromal bvFTD, termed 'mild behavioural and/or cognitive impairment in bvFTD' (MBCI-FTD). Participants included 72 participants deemed to have prodromal bvFTD; this comprised 55 carriers of a pathogenic mutation known to cause frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and 17 individuals with autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal lobar degeneration. All had mild behavioural and/or cognitive changes, as judged by an evaluating clinician. Based on extensive clinical workup, the prodromal bvFTD group was divided into a Development Group (n = 22) and a Validation Group (n = 50). The Development Group was selected to be the subset of the prodromal bvFTD group for whom we had the strongest longitudinal evidence of conversion to bvFTD, and was used to develop the MBCI-FTD criteria. The Validation Group was the remainder of the prodromal bvFTD group and was used as a separate sample on which to validate the criteria. Familial non-carriers were included as healthy controls (n = 165). The frequencies of behavioural and neuropsychiatric features, neuropsychological deficits, and social cognitive dysfunction in the prodromal bvFTD Development Group and healthy controls were assessed. Based on sensitivity and specificity analyses, seven core features were identified: apathy without moderate-severe dysphoria, behavioural disinhibition, irritability/agitation, reduced empathy/sympathy, repetitive behaviours (simple and/or complex), joviality/gregariousness, and appetite changes/hyperorality. Supportive features include a neuropsychological profile of impaired executive function or naming with intact orientation and visuospatial skills, reduced insight for cognitive or behavioural changes, and poor social cognition. Three core features or two core features plus one supportive feature are required for the diagnosis of possible MBCI-FTD; probable MBCI-FTD requires imaging or biomarker evidence, or a pathogenic genetic mutation. The proposed MBCI-FTD criteria correctly classified 95% of the prodromal bvFTD Development Group, and 74% of the prodromal bvFTD Validation Group, with a false positive rate of <10% in healthy controls. Finally, the MBCI-FTD criteria were tested on a cohort of individuals with prodromal Alzheimer's disease, and the false positive rate of diagnosis was 11-16%. Future research will need to refine the sensitivity and specificity of these criteria, and incorporate emerging biomarker evidence.Item Psychotropic medication usage in sporadic versus genetic behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia(Wiley, 2025) Vargas-Gonzalez, Juan-Camilo; Dimal, Nico; Cortez, Kasey; Heuer, Hilary; Forsberg, Leah K.; Appleby, Brian S.; Barmada, Sami; Bozoki, Andrea; Clark, David; Cobigo, Yann; Darby, R. Ryan; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Galasko, Douglas R.; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grant, Ian M.; Irwin, David; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Honig, Lawrence S.; Kantarci, Kejal; Léger, Gabriel C.; Litvan, Irene; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Pascual, Belen; Pressman, Peter; Ramos, Eliana Marisa; Roberson, Erik D.; Rogalski, Emily; Boeve, Brad F.; Boxer, Adam L.; Rosen, Howie J.; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; ALLFTD Consortium Investigators; Neurology, School of MedicineIntroduction: Psychotropic medication (PM) use in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is higher than in other dementias. However, no information exists on whether PM use differs between sporadic and genetic bvFTD. Methods: We analyzed data from sporadic and genetic bvFTD participants with PM prescriptions in the Advancing Research and Treatment in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration/Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects study. We estimated ordinal odds ratio (OOR) of having more PM comparing sporadic and genetic bvFTD. Finally, we explored the neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) combinations using classification and regression trees (CART). Results: We included 263 with sporadic and 193 with genetic bvFTD. The OOR for sporadic bvFTD to be on PM was 1.75 (95% confidence interval: 1.21 to 2.53) for the fully adjusted model. CART revealed the most common NPS combination was apathy + personality changes in 18% of participants. Discussion: Participants with sporadic bvFTD were twice as likely to be on PM compared to genetic bvFTD. The reason for increased PM usage in sporadic bvFTD participants should be further investigated. Highlights: We report on patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). We evaluated the psychotropic medication (PM) prescription at baseline in the cohort. Patients with sporadic bvFTD had more prescriptions for PM than genetic patients. The frequency of symptoms combination was different in sporadic and genetic bvFTD.Item Recognition memory and divergent cognitive profiles in prodromal genetic frontotemporal dementia(Elsevier, 2021) Barker, Megan S.; Manoochehri, Masood; Rizer, Sandra J.; Appleby, Brian S.; Brushaber, Danielle; Dev, Sheena I.; Devick, Katrina L.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Fields, Julie A.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Forsberg, Leah K.; Galasko, Douglas R.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grossman, Murray; Heuer, Hilary W.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek; Kornak, John; Litvan, Irene; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Mendez, Mario F.; Pascual, Belen; Rankin, Katherine P.; Rascovsky, Katya; Staffaroni, Adam M.; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; Weintraub, Sandra; Wong, Bonnie; Boeve, Bradley F.; Boxer, Adam L.; Rosen, Howard J.; Goldman, Jill; Huey, Edward D.; Cosentino, Stephanie; ALLFTD consortium; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineAlthough executive dysfunction is the characteristic cognitive marker of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), episodic memory deficits are relatively common, and may be present even during the prodromal disease phase. In a cohort of mutation carriers with mild behavioral and/or cognitive symptoms consistent with prodromal bvFTD, we aimed to investigate patterns of performance on an abbreviated list learning task, with a particular focus on recognition memory. We further aimed to characterize the cognitive prodromes associated with the three major genetic causes of frontotemporal dementia, as emerging evidence suggests there may be subtle differences in cognitive profiles among carriers of different genetic mutations. Participants included 57 carriers of a pathogenic mutation in microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT, N = 23), or progranulin (GRN, N = 15), or a or a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72, N = 19), with mild cognitive and/or behavioral symptoms consistent with prodromal bvFTD. Familial non-carriers were included as controls (N = 143). All participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological examination, including an abbreviated list learning test assessing episodic memory recall and recognition. MAPT mutation carriers performed worse than non-carriers in terms of list recall, and had difficulty discriminating targets from distractors on the recognition memory task, primarily due to the endorsement of distractors as targets. MAPT mutation carriers also showed nonverbal episodic memory and semantic memory dysfunction (object naming). GRN mutation carriers were variable in performance and overall the most dysexecutive. Slowed psychomotor speed was evident in C9orf72 repeat expansion carriers. Identifying the earliest cognitive indicators of bvFTD is of critical clinical and research importance. List learning may be a sensitive cognitive marker for incipient dementia in MAPT and potentially a subset of GRN carriers. Our results highlight that distinct cognitive profiles may be evident in carriers of the three disease-causing genes during the prodromal disease stage.Item Sex differences in clinical phenotypes of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia(Wiley, 2025) Liu, Xulin; de Boer, Sterre C. M.; Cortez, Kasey; Poos, Jackie M.; Illán-Gala, Ignacio; Heuer, Hilary; Forsberg, Leah K.; Casaletto, Kaitlin; Memel, Molly; Appleby, Brian S.; Barmada, Sami; Bozoki, Andrea; Clark, David; Cobigo, Yann; Darby, Ryan; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Galasko, Douglas R.; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Ghoshal, Nupur; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grant, Ian M.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Honig, Lawrence S.; Huey, Edward D.; Irwin, David; Kantarci, Kejal; Léger, Gabriel C.; Litvan, Irene; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Pascual, Belen; Pressman, Peter; Bayram, Ece; Ramos, Eliana Marisa; Roberson, Erik D.; Rogalski, Emily; Bouzigues, Arabella; Russell, Lucy L.; Foster, Phoebe H.; Ferry-Bolder, Eve; Masellis, Mario; van Swieten, John; Jiskoot, Lize; Seelaar, Harro; Sanchez-Valle, Raquel; Laforce, Robert; Graff, Caroline; Galimberti, Daniela; Vandenberghe, Rik; de Mendonça, Alexandre; Tiraboschi, Pietro; Santana, Isabel; Gerhard, Alexander; Levin, Johannes; Sorbi, Sandro; Otto, Markus; Pasquier, Florence; Ducharme, Simon; Butler, Chris R.; Le Ber, Isabelle; Finger, Elizabeth; Rowe, James B.; Synofzik, Matthis; Moreno, Fermin; Borroni, Barbara; Boeve, Brad F.; Boxer, Adam L.; Rosen, Howie J.; Pijnenburg, Yolande A. L.; Rohrer, Jonathan D.; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; ALLFTD Consortium; GENFI Consortium; Medicine, School of MedicineIntroduction: Higher male prevalence in sporadic behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) has been reported. We hypothesized differences in phenotypes between genetic and sporadic bvFTD females resulting in underdiagnosis of sporadic bvFTD females. Methods: We included genetic and sporadic bvFTD patients from two multicenter cohorts. We compared behavioral and cognitive symptoms, and gray matter volumes, between genetic and sporadic cases in each sex. Results: Females with sporadic bvFTD showed worse compulsive behavior (p = 0.026) and language impairments (p = 0.024) compared to females with genetic bvFTD (n = 152). Genetic bvFTD females had smaller gray matter volumes than sporadic bvFTD females, particularly in the parietal lobe. Discussion: Females with sporadic bvFTD exhibit a distinct clinical phenotype compared to females with genetic bvFTD. This difference may explain the discrepancy in prevalence between genetic and sporadic cases, as some females without genetic mutations may be misdiagnosed due to atypical bvFTD symptom presentation. Highlights: Sex ratio is equal in genetic behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), whereas more males are present in sporadic bvFTD. Distinct neuropsychiatric phenotypes exist between sporadic and genetic bvFTD in females. Phenotype might explain the sex ratio difference between sporadic and genetic cases.Item Sex differences in the clinical manifestation of autosomal dominant frontotemporal dementia(Wiley, 2025) Memel, Molly; Staffaroni, Adam M.; Ilan-Gala, Ignacio; Garcia Castro, Jesús; Kornak, John; Tartaglia, Carmela M.; Saloner, Rowan; VandeBunte, Anna M.; Paolillo, Emily W.; Cadwallader, Claire J.; Chen, Coty; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa; Mandelli, Malu; Apostolova, Liana; Graff-Radford, Neil; Litvan, Irene; Bayram, Ece; Pressman, Peter S.; Miyagawa, Toji; Mackenzie, Ian; Goldman, Jill; Darby, Richard R.; Appleby, Brian S.; Petrucelli, Len; Gendron, Tania; Heuer, Hilary W.; Forseberg, Leah K.; Rojas, Julio C.; Boeve, Brad F.; Brushaber, Nellie; Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko; Ghoshal, Nupur; Lapid, Maria; Pascual, Belen; Lee, Suzee; Ramos, Eliana Marisa; Ramanan, Vijay; Rademakers, Rosa; Rascovsky, Katya; Pantelyat, Alex; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Snyder, Allison; Boxer, Adam L.; Rosen, Howard J.; Casaletto, Kaitlin; ALLFTD Consortium; Neurology, School of MedicineIntroduction: Sex differences are apparent in neurodegenerative diseases but have not been comprehensively characterized in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Methods: Participants included 337 adults with autosomal dominant FTD enrolled in the ALLFTD Consortium. Clinical assessments and plasma were collected annually for up to 6 years. Linear mixed-effects models investigated how sex and disease stage are associated with longitudinal trajectories of cognition, function, and neurofilament light chain (NfL). Results: While sex differences were not apparent at asymptomatic stages, females showed more rapid declines across all outcomes in symptomatic stages compared to males. In asymptomatic participants, the association between baseline NfL and clinical trajectories was weaker in females versus males, a difference that was not present in symptomatic participants. Discussion: In genetic FTD, females show cognitive resilience in early disease stages followed by steeper clinical declines later in the disease. Baseline NfL may be a less sensitive prognostic tool for clinical progression in females with FTD-causing mutations. Highlights: Females with genetic FTD exhibit overall steeper increases in plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) than males. Females with genetic FTD outperform NfL levels in asymptomatic stages compared to males. Once symptomatic, females with genetic FTD decline more rapidly than males. Plasma NfL is a stronger prognostic marker in asymptomatic males than females.