Browsing by Author "Sanders, R. Elizabeth"

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    Cognitively defined Alzheimer's dementia subgroups have distinct atrophy patterns
    (Wiley, 2024) Crane, Paul K.; Groot, Colin; Ossenkoppele, Rik; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Choi, Seo-Eun; Lee, Michael; Scollard, Phoebe; Gibbons, Laura E.; Sanders, R. Elizabeth; Trittschuh, Emily; Saykin, Andrew J.; Mez, Jesse; Nakano, Connie; Mac Donald, Christine; Sohi, Harkirat; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Risacher, Shannon; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: We sought to determine structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics across subgroups defined based on relative cognitive domain impairments using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and to compare cognitively defined to imaging-defined subgroups. Methods: We used data from 584 people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (461 amyloid positive, 123 unknown amyloid status) and 118 amyloid-negative controls. We used voxel-based morphometry to compare gray matter volume (GMV) for each group compared to controls and to AD-Memory. Results: There was pronounced bilateral lower medial temporal lobe atrophy with relative cortical sparing for AD-Memory, lower left hemisphere GMV for AD-Language, anterior lower GMV for AD-Executive, and posterior lower GMV for AD-Visuospatial. Formal asymmetry comparisons showed substantially more asymmetry in the AD-Language group than any other group (p = 1.15 × 10-10 ). For overlap between imaging-defined and cognitively defined subgroups, AD-Memory matched up with an imaging-defined limbic predominant group. Discussion: MRI findings differ across cognitively defined AD subgroups.
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    Sex differences in the genetic architecture of cognitive resilience to Alzheimer's disease
    (Oxford University Press, 2022) Eissman, Jaclyn M.; Dumitrescu, Logan; Mahoney, Emily R.; Smith, Alexandra N.; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Lee, Michael L.; Scollard, Phoebe; Choi, Seo Eun; Bush, William S.; Engelman, Corinne D.; Lu, Qiongshi; Fardo, David W.; Trittschuh, Emily H.; Mez, Jesse; Kaczorowski, Catherine C.; Hernandez Saucedo, Hector; Widaman, Keith F.; Buckley, Rachel F.; Properzi, Michael J.; Mormino, Elizabeth C.; Yang, Hyun Sik; Harrison, Theresa M.; Hedden, Trey; Nho, Kwangsik; Andrews, Shea J.; Tommet, Douglas; Hadad, Niran; Sanders, R. Elizabeth; Ruderfer, Douglas M.; Gifford, Katherine A.; Zhong, Xiaoyuan; Raghavan, Neha S.; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI); Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC); A4 Study Team; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Wang, Li San; Cruchaga, Carlos; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Cox, Nancy J.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Keene, C. Dirk; Saykin, Andrew J.; Larson, Eric B.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Mayeux, Richard; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Bennett, David A.; Schneider, Julie A.; Crane, Paul K.; Jefferson, Angela L.; Hohman, Timothy J.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Approximately 30% of elderly adults are cognitively unimpaired at time of death despite the presence of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology at autopsy. Studying individuals who are resilient to the cognitive consequences of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology may uncover novel therapeutic targets to treat Alzheimer's disease. It is well established that there are sex differences in response to Alzheimer's disease pathology, and growing evidence suggests that genetic factors may contribute to these differences. Taken together, we sought to elucidate sex-specific genetic drivers of resilience. We extended our recent large scale genomic analysis of resilience in which we harmonized cognitive data across four cohorts of cognitive ageing, in vivo amyloid PET across two cohorts, and autopsy measures of amyloid neuritic plaque burden across two cohorts. These data were leveraged to build robust, continuous resilience phenotypes. With these phenotypes, we performed sex-stratified [n (males) = 2093, n (females) = 2931] and sex-interaction [n (both sexes) = 5024] genome-wide association studies (GWAS), gene and pathway-based tests, and genetic correlation analyses to clarify the variants, genes and molecular pathways that relate to resilience in a sex-specific manner. Estimated among cognitively normal individuals of both sexes, resilience was 20-25% heritable, and when estimated in either sex among cognitively normal individuals, resilience was 15-44% heritable. In our GWAS, we identified a female-specific locus on chromosome 10 [rs827389, β (females) = 0.08, P (females) = 5.76 × 10-09, β (males) = -0.01, P(males) = 0.70, β (interaction) = 0.09, P (interaction) = 1.01 × 10-04] in which the minor allele was associated with higher resilience scores among females. This locus is located within chromatin loops that interact with promoters of genes involved in RNA processing, including GATA3. Finally, our genetic correlation analyses revealed shared genetic architecture between resilience phenotypes and other complex traits, including a female-specific association with frontotemporal dementia and male-specific associations with heart rate variability traits. We also observed opposing associations between sexes for multiple sclerosis, such that more resilient females had a lower genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, and more resilient males had a higher genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. Overall, we identified sex differences in the genetic architecture of resilience, identified a female-specific resilience locus and highlighted numerous sex-specific molecular pathways that may underly resilience to Alzheimer's disease pathology. This study illustrates the need to conduct sex-aware genomic analyses to identify novel targets that are unidentified in sex-agnostic models. Our findings support the theory that the most successful treatment for an individual with Alzheimer's disease may be personalized based on their biological sex and genetic context.