Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy (Jul 2019)

Associations between quantitative [18F]flortaucipir tau PET and atrophy across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum

  • Tessa Timmers,
  • Rik Ossenkoppele,
  • Emma E. Wolters,
  • Sander C. J. Verfaillie,
  • Denise Visser,
  • Sandeep S. V. Golla,
  • Frederik Barkhof,
  • Philip Scheltens,
  • Ronald Boellaard,
  • Wiesje M. van der Flier,
  • Bart N. M. van Berckel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-019-0510-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Abstract Background Neuropathological studies have linked tau aggregates to neuronal loss. To describe the spatial distribution of neurofibrillary tangle pathology in post-mortem tissue, Braak staging has been used. The aim of this study was to examine in vivo associations between tau pathology, quantified with [18F]flortaucipir PET in regions corresponding to Braak stages, and atrophy across the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) spectrum. Methods We included 100 subjects, including 58 amyloid-β positive patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 6) or AD dementia (n = 52) and 42 controls with subjective cognitive decline (36% amyloid-β positive). All subjects underwent a dynamic [18F]flortaucipir PET to generate non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) maps. We extracted average [18F]flortaucipir BPND entorhinal, Braak III–IV (limbic) and Braak V–VI (neocortical) regions of interest (ROIs). T1-weighted MRI was used to assess gray matter (GM) volumes. We performed linear regression analyses using [18F]flortaucipir BPND ROIs as independent and GM density (ROI or voxelwise) as dependent variable. Results In MCI/AD subjects (age [mean ± SD] 65 ± 8 years, MMSE 23 ± 4), [18F]flortaucipir BPND was higher than in controls (age 65 ± 8, MMSE 29 ± 1) across all ROIs (entorhinal 0.06 ± 0.21 vs 0.46 ± 0.25 p 0.05). Conclusions In MCI/AD patients, [18F]flortaucipir binding in entorhinal, limbic, and neocortical regions was associated with cortical atrophy.

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