Publications by authors named "Andrea Benedet"

Introduction: Plasma-based biomarkers have shown promise for clinical implementation, but their accuracy in differentiating Alzheimer's disease (AD) from syndromes associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) has yet to be fully investigated. This study assessed the potential of plasma biomarkers for differential diagnosis.

Methods: This cohort study included 374 participants (96 AD, 278 FTLD).

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Background And Objectives: To compare the diagnostic performance of an immunoassay for plasma concentrations of phosphorylated tau (p-tau) 217 with visual assessments of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose [F]FDG-PET in individuals who meet appropriate use criteria for Alzheimer dementia (AD) biomarker assessments.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of individuals with early-onset (age <65 years at onset) and/or atypical dementia (features other than memory at onset), who were evaluated at a tertiary care memory clinic. All participants underwent measurements of CSF biomarkers (Aβ42, p-tau181, and total tau levels), as well as [F]FDG-PET scans, amyloid-PET scans, and plasma p-tau217 quantifications.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent advancements in Alzheimer's treatment now require verification of amyloid-β pathology using PET scans or cerebrospinal fluid, but blood tests could simplify this process.* -
  • A study involving nearly 7,000 individuals identified that the plasma biomarker p-tau217 can reliably indicate amyloid-β pathology, especially in patients with probable Alzheimer’s dementia.* -
  • The findings suggest that combining p-tau217 results with clinical assessments may allow for accurate diagnoses without the need for more invasive PET or CSF tests.*
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  • This study focuses on identifying individuals with advanced Alzheimer's disease (specifically Braak V or VI) using plasma biomarkers in those who are already confirmed to have amyloid-β (Aβ).
  • Researchers evaluated 595 participants from two studies, employing tests like amyloid-PET and tau-PET while measuring various plasma tau levels.
  • Findings suggest that elevated levels of plasma pTau-217 are strongly associated with Braak V positivity, indicating it could be a useful biomarker for patient stratification in treatment and clinical studies.
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Background And Purpose: This study was undertaken to compare the performance of plasma p-tau181 with that of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in the identification of early biological Alzheimer disease (AD).

Methods: We included 533 cognitively impaired participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Participants underwent PET scans, biofluid collection, and cognitive tests.

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Previous studies have shown that glial and neuronal changes may trigger synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease(AD). However, the link between glial and neuronal markers and synaptic abnormalities in the living brain is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the association between biomarkers of astrocyte and microglial reactivity and synaptic dysfunction in 478 individuals across the aging and AD spectrum from two cohorts with available CSF measures of amyloid-β(Aβ), phosphorylated tau(pTau181), astrocyte reactivity(GFAP), microglial activation(sTREM2), and synaptic biomarkers(GAP43 and neurogranin).

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  • The study examines how recent updates in Alzheimer's disease diagnostic guidelines from NIA-AA and IWG impact clinical diagnoses among cognitively unimpaired and impaired individuals.
  • It analyzed clinical and biomarker data from 1,195 participants, noting differences in diagnostic labels assigned under various guidelines and the frequency of discordant diagnoses among them.
  • The findings revealed significant variance in predictive value for cognitive impairment across different diagnostic frameworks, with older guidelines showing a clearer correlation than some of the more recent ones.
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Background: Females represent approximately 70% of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases and the literature has proposed a connection between the decreased estrogen levels during menopause and an increased AD risk. Previous investigations have predominantly focused on assessing how hormone therapy (HT) affects the likelihood of AD development and cognitive deterioration. However, as the research framework has shifted toward a biomarker-defined AD and alterations in specific biomarkers could take place years before cognitive decline becomes discernible, it is crucial to examine how HT influences AD biomarkers.

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Neuronal dysfunction and cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are likely caused by multiple pathophysiological factors. However, mechanistic evidence in humans remains scarce, requiring improved non-invasive techniques and integrative models. We introduce personalized AD computational models built on whole-brain Wilson-Cowan oscillators and incorporating resting-state functional MRI, amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau-PET from 132 individuals in the AD spectrum to evaluate the direct impact of toxic protein deposition on neuronal activity.

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Blood-based biomarkers for screening may guide tau positrion emissition tomography (PET) scan referrals to optimize prognostic evaluation in Alzheimer's disease. Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40, pTau181, pTau217, pTau231, NfL, and GFAP were measured along with tau-PET in memory clinic patients with subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment or dementia, in the Swedish BioFINDER-2 study (n = 548) and in the TRIAD study (n = 179). For each plasma biomarker, cutoffs were determined for 90%, 95%, or 97.

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Background: Blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have become increasingly important as scalable tools for diagnosis and determining clinical trial eligibility. P-tau217 is the most promising due to its excellent sensitivity and specificity for AD-related pathological changes.

Methods: We compared the performance of two commercially available plasma p-tau217 assays (ALZpath p-tau217 and Janssen p-tau217+) in 294 individuals cross-sectionally.

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Disease staging, whereby the spatial extent and load of brain pathology are used to estimate the severity of Alzheimer disease (AD), is pivotal to the gold-standard neuropathological diagnosis of AD. Current in vivo diagnostic frameworks for AD are based on abnormal concentrations of amyloid-β and tau in the cerebrospinal fluid or on PET scans, and breakthroughs in molecular imaging have opened up the possibility of in vivo staging of AD. Focusing on the key principles of disease staging shared across several areas of medicine, this Review highlights the potential for in vivo staging of AD to transform our understanding of preclinical AD, refine enrolment criteria for trials of disease-modifying therapies and aid clinical decision-making in the era of anti-amyloid therapeutics.

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Background: Novel phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) blood biomarkers (e.g., p-tau181, p-tau217 or p-tau231), are highly specific for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can track amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau pathology.

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  • * Researchers found that a higher VRF burden is linked to increased neurodegeneration and cognitive decline over time, indicating these factors work together to worsen AD.
  • * Despite VRFs and AD pathophysiology operating independently, combining treatments aimed at both could improve outcomes for individuals at risk for AD, especially in its early stages.
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  • Phosphorylated tau (p-tau) is a key blood biomarker for detecting Alzheimer disease (AD), with p-tau217 being particularly useful; however, access to p-tau217 tests has been limited, hindering research and clinical applications.
  • The study aimed to evaluate a new commercial immunoassay for plasma p-tau217, focusing on its ability to detect AD pathology and establish reference ranges for abnormal amyloid β (Aβ) across three different cohorts.
  • Involving 786 participants, the study found that plasma p-tau217 demonstrated high accuracy (AUC 0.92-0.96) in identifying elevated Aβ and tau pathology, suggesting its effectiveness as
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  • Antibody-based immunoassays effectively measure low levels of phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), aiding Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis, and are compared to mass spectrometry for performance evaluation.
  • The study involved 567 participants and used both techniques to analyze p-tau concentrations, alongside clinical evaluations and PET scans for amyloid and tau.
  • Results indicate that while immunoassays show slightly superior diagnostic performance compared to mass spectrometry, the latter offers the advantage of assessing multiple biomarkers simultaneously, warranting further investigation.
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Post-mortem staging of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neurofibrillary pathology is commonly performed by immunohistochemistry using AT8 antibody for phosphorylated tau (p-tau) at positions 202/205. Thus, quantification of p-tau205 and p-tau202 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) should be more reflective of neurofibrillary tangles in AD than other p-tau epitopes. We developed two novel Simoa immunoassays for CSF p-tau205 and p-tau202 and measured these phosphorylations in three independent cohorts encompassing the AD continuum, non-AD cases and cognitively unimpaired participants: a discovery cohort (n = 47), an unselected clinical cohort (n = 212) and a research cohort well-characterized by fluid and imaging biomarkers (n = 262).

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Importance: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are commonly encountered and are highly debilitating in patients with Alzheimer disease. Understanding their underpinnings has implications for identifying biomarkers and treatment for these symptoms.

Objective: To evaluate whether glial markers are associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals across the Alzheimer disease continuum.

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Introduction: Synaptic loss is closely associated with tau aggregation and microglia activation in later stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, synaptic damage happens early in AD at the very early stages of tau accumulation. It remains unclear whether microglia activation independently causes synaptic cleavage before tau aggregation appears.

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Females are disproportionately affected by dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Despite a similar amyloid-β (Aβ) load, a higher load of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) is seen in females than males. Previous literature has proposed that Aβ and phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) synergism accelerates tau tangle formation, yet the effect of biological sex in this process has been overlooked.

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Article Synopsis
  • Blood biomarkers have shown significance in Alzheimer's disease research, but their biological variation (BV) is not well understood, which is essential for interpreting individual data.
  • A study conducted over 10 weeks with 20 participants measured various plasma biomarkers and assessed both within-subject and between-subject variability, revealing Aβ42/Aβ40 had the least variability while p-tau181 exhibited the most.
  • Understanding BV and reference change values (RCVs) for these biomarkers can enhance clinical interpretation and help monitor disease progression or treatment effectiveness for Alzheimer's disease.
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Introduction: We set out to identify tau PET-positive (A+T+) individuals among amyloid-beta (Aβ) positive participants using plasma biomarkers.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study we assessed 234 participants across the AD continuum who were evaluated by amyloid PET with [ F]AZD4694 and tau-PET with [ F]MK6240 and measured plasma levels of total tau, pTau-181, pTau-217, pTau-231, and N-terminal tau (NTA-tau). We evaluated the performances of plasma biomarkers to predict tau positivity in Aβ+ individuals.

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The mechanisms by which the apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOEε4) allele influences the pathophysiological progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are poorly understood. Here we tested the association of APOEε4 carriership and amyloid-β (Aβ) burden with longitudinal tau pathology. We longitudinally assessed 94 individuals across the aging and AD spectrum who underwent clinical assessments, APOE genotyping, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) for Aβ ([F]AZD4694) and tau ([F]MK-6240) at baseline, as well as a 2-year follow-up tau-PET scan.

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