Introduction: Early-onset and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD and LOAD, respectively) have distinct clinical manifestations, with prior work based on small samples suggesting unique patterns of neurodegeneration. The current study performed a head-to-head comparison of cortical atrophy in EOAD and LOAD, using two large and well-characterized cohorts (LEADS and ADNI).
Methods: We analyzed brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data acquired from 377 sporadic EOAD patients and 317 sporadicLOAD patients who were amyloid positive and had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia (i.
Background: As literature suggests that Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease (EOAD) and late-onset AD may differ in important ways, need exists for randomized clinical trials for treatments tailored to EOAD. Accurately measuring reliable cognitive change in individual patients with EOAD will have great value for these trials.
Objectives: The current study sought to characterize and validate 12-month reliable change from the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) neuropsychological battery.
Background: The clinical presentations of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer's disease are distinct, with EOAD having a more aggressive disease course with greater heterogeneity. Recent publications from the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) described EOAD as predominantly amnestic, though this phenotypic description was based solely on clinical judgment. To better understand the phenotypic range of EOAD presentation, we applied a neuropsychological data-driven method to subtype the LEADS cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain network dynamics have been extensively explored in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). However, these studies are susceptible to individual differences, scanning parameters, and other confounding factors. Therefore, how to reveal subtle SCD-related subtle changes remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Investigators conducting clinical trials have an ethical, scientific, and regulatory obligation to protect the safety of trial participants. Traditionally, safety monitoring includes manual review and coding of adverse event data by expert clinicians.
Objectives: Our study explores the use of natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) methods to streamline and standardize clinician coding of adverse event data in Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials.
Introduction: Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) manifests prior to the age of 65, and affects 4%-8% of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current analyses sought to examine longitudinal cognitive trajectories of participants with early-onset dementia.
Methods: Data from 307 cognitively normal (CN) volunteer participants and those with amyloid-positive EOAD or amyloid-negative cognitive impairment (EOnonAD) were compared.
Introduction: Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) share similar amyloid etiology, but evidence from smaller-scale studies suggests that they manifest differently clinically. Current analyses sought to contrast the cognitive profiles of EOAD and LOAD.
Methods: Z-score cognitive-domain composites for 311 amyloid-positive sporadic EOAD and 314 amyloid-positive LOAD participants were calculated from baseline data from age-appropriate control cohorts.
The overall goal of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is to optimize and validate biomarkers for clinical trials while sharing all data and biofluid samples with the global scientific community. ADNI has been instrumental in standardizing and validating amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. ADNI data were used for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Fujirebio and Roche Elecsys cerebrospinal fluid diagnostic tests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo understand the potential benefits of emerging Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapies within and beyond clinical trial settings, there is a need to advance current outcome measurements into meaningful information relevant to all stakeholders. The relationship between the impact on disease biology and clinically measurable outcomes in cognition, function, and behavior must be considered when defining the meaningful benefit of early AD therapies. In this review, we discuss: (1) the lack of consideration for biomarkers in the current concept of meaningfulness in AD; (2) the lack of gold standards for determining minimal biologically and clinically important differences (MBCIDs) in AD trials; (3) how the treatment benefits of disease-modifying treatments are cumulative and increase over time; and (4) the different concepts of meaningfulness among key stakeholders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDecades of research have provided evidence that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused in part by cerebral accumulation of amyloid beta-protein (Aβ). In 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration gave full regulatory approval to a disease-modifying Aβ antibody for early AD. Secondary prevention trials with Aβ antibodies are underway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study was conducted to clarify patterns of cortico-limbic volume abnormalities in late life depression (LLD) relative to non-depressed (ND) adults matched for amyloid β (Aβ) deposition and to evaluate the relationship of volume abnormalities with cognitive performance. Participants included 116 LLD and 226 ND. Classification accuracy of LLD status was estimated using area under the receiver operator characteristic curve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe emergence of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved amyloid-targeting therapies for Alzheimer's disease challenges clinicians and healthcare providers with a transformative landscape. Effectively communicating the risks, benefits, burdens, costs, and available support associated with these novel disease-modifying treatments to patients, families, and other healthcare providers is essential but complex. In response, the Alzheimer's Association's Clinical Meaningfulness Workgroup has proposed language surrounding treatment eligibility, benefits, amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping, and treatment costs, serving as a resource to healthcare professionals in navigating discussions with patients and their families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Anxiety is a common comorbid feature of late-life depression (LLD) and is associated with poorer global cognitive functioning independent of depression severity. However, little is known about whether comorbid anxiety is associated with a domain-specific pattern of cognitive dysfunction. We therefore examined group differences (LLD with and without comorbid anxiety) in cognitive functioning performance across multiple domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: We evaluated preliminary feasibility of a digital, culturally-informed approach to recruit and screen participants for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI4).
Methods: Participants were recruited using digital advertising and completed digital surveys (e.g.
The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Clinical Core is responsible for coordination of all clinical activities at the ADNI sites, including project management, regulatory oversight, and site management and monitoring, as well as the collection of all clinical data and management of all study data. The Clinical Core is also charged with determining the clinical classifications and criteria for enrollment in evolving AD trials and enabling the ongoing characterization of the cross-sectional features and longitudinal trajectories of the ADNI cohorts with application of these findings to optimal clinical trial designs. More than 2400 individuals have been enrolled in the cohorts since the inception of ADNI, facilitating refinement of our understanding of the AD trajectory and allowing academic and industry investigators to model therapeutic trials across the disease spectrum from the presymptomatic stage through dementia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Black or African American (hereinafter, Black) and Hispanic or Latino/a/x (hereinafter, Latinx) adults are disproportionally affected by Alzheimer disease, but most research studies do not enroll adequate numbers of both of these populations. The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-3 (ADNI3) launched a diversity taskforce to pilot a multipronged effort to increase the study inclusion of Black and Latinx older adults.
Objective: To describe and evaluate the culturally informed and community-engaged inclusion efforts to increase the screening and enrollment of Black and Latinx older adults in ADNI3.
Introduction: In trials of amyloid-lowering drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD), differential eligibility may contribute to under-inclusion of racial and ethnic underrepresented groups. We examined plasma amyloid beta 42/40 and positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid eligibility for the ongoing AHEAD Study preclinical AD program (NCT04468659).
Methods: Univariate logistic regression models were used to examine group differences in plasma and PET amyloid screening eligibility.
Background And Objectives: Preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD) trials simultaneously test candidate treatments and the implications of disclosing biomarker information to cognitively unimpaired individuals.
Methods: The EARLY trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b/3 study conducted in 143 centers across 14 countries from November 2015 to December 2018 after being stopped prematurely because of treatment-related hepatotoxicity. Participants age 60-85 years deemed cognitively unimpaired were disclosed an elevated or not elevated brain amyloid result by a certified clinician.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
April 2024
Hoarding disorder (HD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric condition that affects 2%-6% of the population and increases in incidence with age. Major depressive disorder (MDD) co-occurs with HD in approximately 50% of cases and leads to increased functional impairment and disability. However, only one study to date has examined the rate and trajectory of hoarding symptoms in older individuals with a lifetime history of MDD, including those with current active depression (late-life depression; LLD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Incorporating blood-based Alzheimer's disease biomarkers such as tau and amyloid beta (Aβ) into screening algorithms may improve screening efficiency.
Methods: Plasma Aβ, phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181, and p-tau217 concentration levels from AHEAD 3-45 study participants were measured using mass spectrometry. Tau concentration ratios for each proteoform were calculated to normalize for inter-individual differences.