Longitudinal clinical, cognitive and biomarker profiles in dominantly inherited versus sporadic early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

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.

Association of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity With Choroidal Thickness.

Objective: To determine the association between disease activity and choroidal thickness in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: We conducted a cohort study of 24 SLE patients and 13 healthy controls recruited at Washington University School of Medicine between June 2019 and November 2021. SLE disease activity was assessed using the SLE Disease Activity Index-2000 Responder Index-50 (S2K RI-50).

Retention of Study Partners in Longitudinal Studies of Alzheimer Disease.

Background: Study partners are required for all participants at Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs). Study partners' attitudes and beliefs may contribute to missed visits and negatively impact retention of participants in longitudinal AD studies.

Objective: Study partners (N = 212) of participants (Clinical Dementia Rating® [CDR]≤2) at four ADRCs were randomly surveyed to examine their facilitators and barriers to continued participation in AD studies.

Assessing deviations for HPCs obtained during COVID-19 (ADHOC): Evaluating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cellular therapy products and processes, the BEST collaborative study.

Background: The success of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is dependent on a world-wide network of collection centers providing donations that predominantly have been infused as fresh cells. The logistics chain that supports the just-in-time delivery model for stem cell and immunotherapy products was severely stressed by the COVID pandemic, and in early 2020 a number of national and international bodies recommended that cells should be cryopreserved at the collection or transplant center to avoid interruptions in their acquisition or delivery to patients who had started conditioning.

Study Design: To assess the potential consequences of such pandemic-related deviations to normal practice, we surveyed nine international laboratories to determine if the characteristics or transplant outcomes of allogeneic stem cell donations differed in the immediate periods before and after the switch to routine cryopreservation.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of biomarkers and cognition among asymptomatic middle-aged individuals with a parental history of either autosomal dominant or late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Comparisons of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) and autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) are confounded by age.

Methods: We compared biomarkers from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), magnetic resonance imaging, and amyloid imaging with Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) across four groups of 387 cognitively normal participants, 42 to 65 years of age, in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) and the Adult Children Study (ACS) of LOAD: DIAN mutation carriers (MCs) and non-carriers (NON-MCs), and ACS participants with a positive (FH+) and negative (FH-) family history of LOAD.

Results: At baseline, MCs had the lowest age-adjusted level of CSF Aβ42 and the highest levels of total and phosphorylated tau-181, and PiB uptake.