One-Year Longitudinal Changes in Tau Accumulation on [F]PI-2620 PET in the Alzheimer Spectrum.

We investigated the longitudinal changes in cortical tau accumulation and their association with cognitive decline in patients in the Alzheimer disease (AD) continuum using 2-(2-([F]fluoro)pyridin-4-yl)-9-pyrrolo[2,3-b:4,5c']dipyridine ([F]PI-2620) PET. We prospectively enrolled 52 participants (age, 69.7 ± 8.4 y; 18 men and 34 women): 7 with normal cognition, 28 with mild cognitive impairment, and 17 with AD. They all completed the [F]PI-2620 and [F]florbetaben PET, MRI, and neuropsychologic tests at baseline and, excepting the [F]florbetaben PET, at the 1-y follow-up. Amyloid-β (Aβ) PET images were visually scored as positive (+) or negative (-). Patients on the AD continuum, including Aβ+ mild cognitive impairment and AD, were classified into early-onset (EO+) (<65 y old) or late-onset (LO+) (≥65 y old) groups. [F]PI-2620 PET SUV ratios (SUVRs) were determined by calculating the cerebral-to-inferior cerebellar ratio. Cortical volumes were calculated using 3-dimensional T1-weighted MRI. The correlation between tau accumulation progression and cognitive decline was also investigated. The global [F]PI-2620 PET SUVRs were 1.04 ± 0.07 in 15 Aβ- patients, 1.18 ± 0.21 in 20 LO+ patients (age, 76.7 ± 3.8 y), and 1.54 ± 0.38 in 17 EO+ patients (age, 63.4 ± 5.4 y; < 0.001) at baseline. The global SUVR increased over 1 y by 0.05 ± 0.07 (3.90%) and 0.13 ± 0.22 (8.41%) in the LO+ and EO+ groups, respectively, whereas in the Aβ- groups, it remained unchanged. The EO+ group showed higher global and regional tau deposition than did the Aβ- and LO+ groups ( < 0.05 for each) and rapid accumulation in Braak stage V (0.15 ± 0.25; 9.10% ± 12.27%; = 0.016 and 0.008), Braak stage VI (0.08 ± 0.12; 7.16% ± 10.06%; < 0.006 and 0.005), and global SUVR ( = 0.013) compared with the Aβ- group. In the EO+ group, the changes in SUVR in Braak stages II-VI were strongly correlated with the baseline and changes in verbal memory ( < 0.03). The LO+ group showed higher tau accumulation in Braak stage I-IV areas than did the Aβ- group ( < 0.001 for each). In the LO+ group, the change in SUVR in Braak stages III and IV moderately correlated with the change in attention ( < 0.05), and the change in SUVR in Braak stages V and VI moderately correlated with the change in visuospatial function ( < 0.005). These findings suggest that [F]PI-2620 PET can be a biomarker to provide regional and chronologic information about tau pathology in the AD continuum.