Home › Research › Down syndrome and Alzheimer's
Detection of an Alzheimer disease pattern of cerebral metabolism in Down syndrome
Azari NP, Pettigrew KD, Pietrini P, Horwitz B, Schapiro MB.. Dementia (Basel, Switzerland), 1994-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Correlational analysis of cerebral metabolic (rCMRglc) data obtained with positron emission tomography (PET) assesses group differences and has demonstrated reduced frontal-parietal rCMRglc interdependencies in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A multivariate analysis of rCMRglc data assesses individual differences. We recently identified discriminant functions, reflecting frontal-parietal rCMRglc interdependencies, that separated AD from control subjects. To test if the functions would identify an AD rCMRglc pattern in older Down syndrome (DS) adults with (DS DAT+) or without (DS DAT-) dementia, we applied the functions to longitudinal rCMRglc data in: young DS (n = 15), DS DAT- (n = 10), DS DAT+ (n = 4), and young controls (n = 15). All DS DAT+ and some of the later DS DAT- scans were classified as AD. The results provide additional validation of the functions and suggest their utility for the early detection of AD.
Key findings
- Correlational analysis of cerebral metabolic (rCMRglc) data obtained with positron emission tomography (PET) assesses group differences and has demonstrated reduced frontal-parietal rCMRglc interdependencies in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- The results provide additional validation of the functions and suggest their utility for the early detection of AD.
Why it matters
Discriminant functions based on cerebral metabolic data classified all Down syndrome adults with dementia and some without dementia as having an Alzheimer's disease pattern. The authors suggest utility for early detection, which is about diagnosis rather than treatment or cure.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants15
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 48 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 50 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia (Basel, Switzerland)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1994 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 15 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 23 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.7 citations a year over 34 year(s) since 1994 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Mark B. Schapiro: h-index 56 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 8038869) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 48 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 48 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 50 out of 100. |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Azari, N. P., Pettigrew, K. D., Pietrini, P., Horwitz, B., & Schapiro, M. B. (1994). Detection of an Alzheimer disease pattern of cerebral metabolism in Down syndrome. Dementia (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.1159/000106700
Vancouver
Azari NP, Pettigrew KD, Pietrini P, Horwitz B, Schapiro MB. Detection of an Alzheimer disease pattern of cerebral metabolism in Down syndrome. Dementia (Basel, Switzerland). 1994. doi:10.1159/000106700. PMID: 8038869.
BibTeX
@article{azari1994-8038869,
author = {Azari, N. P. and Pettigrew, K. D. and Pietrini, P. and Horwitz, B. and Schapiro, M. B.},
title = {{Detection of an Alzheimer disease pattern of cerebral metabolism in Down syndrome}},
journal = {Dementia (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {1994},
doi = {10.1159/000106700},
pmid = {8038869},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1159/000106700}
}
Later studies that cite this one
3 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's
Also tagged “down”
527 studies in the library carry the topic tag “down”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 527 tagged studies.