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Inferior temporal tau is associated with accelerated prospective cortical thinning in clinically normal older adults
Scott MR, Hampton OL, Buckley RF, Chhatwal JP, Hanseeuw BJ, Jacobs HI, Properzi MJ, Sanchez JS et al.. NeuroImage, 2020-06-05
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Neurofibrillary tau tangles are a hallmark pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are more closely associated with AD-related cortical atrophy and symptom severity than amyloid-beta (Aβ). However, studies regarding the effect of tau on longitudinal cortical thinning, particularly in healthy aging and preclinical AD, have been limited in number due to the relatively recent introduction of in vivo PET tracers for imaging tau pathology. Here, we investigate [18F]-flortaucipir (FTP, a marker of paired helical filament tau) PET as a predictor of atrophy in healthy aging and preclinical AD. We examine longitudinal structural MRI brain imaging data, retrospectively and prospectively relative to FTP imaging, using piecewise linear mixed-effect models with time centered at each participant's FTP-PET session. Participants include 111 individuals from the Harvard Aging Brain Study who underwent at least three MRI sessions over an average of 4.46 years and one FTP-PET at the approximate midpoint of the observation period. Our primary analyses focus on inferior temporal (IT) FTP standardized uptake value ratios and longitudinal FreeSurfer defined cortical regions of interest. Relationships were also explored using other regional FTP measures (entorhinal, composite, and local), within high and low Pittsburgh compound-B (PiB) PET groups, and with longitudinal subcortical volume. Strong associations between IT FTP and cortical thinning were found, most notably in temporal, midline, and prefrontal regions, with stronger effects generally observed in the prospective as compared to retrospective time frame. Significant differences between prospective and retrospective rates of thinning were found in the inferior and middle temporal gyri, cingulate areas, as well as pars orbitalis such that higher IT FTP was associated with greater prospective rates of thinning. Within the high PiB group, significant differences between prospective and retrospective rates of thinning were similarly observed. However, no consistent pattern of tau-related change in cortical thickness within the low PiB group was discerned. These results provide support for the hypothesis that tau pathology is a driver of future atrophy as well as provide additional evidence for tau-PET as an effective AD biomarker for interventional clinical trials.
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APA 7th
Scott, M. R., Hampton, O. L., Buckley, R. F., Chhatwal, J. P., Hanseeuw, B. J., Jacobs, H. I., et al. (2020). Inferior temporal tau is associated with accelerated prospective cortical thinning in clinically normal older adults. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116991
Vancouver
Scott MR, Hampton OL, Buckley RF, Chhatwal JP, Hanseeuw BJ, Jacobs HI, et al. Inferior temporal tau is associated with accelerated prospective cortical thinning in clinically normal older adults. NeuroImage. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116991. PMID: 32512123.
BibTeX
@article{scott2020-32512123,
author = {Scott, M. R. and Hampton, O. L. and Buckley, R. F. and Chhatwal, J. P. and Hanseeuw, B. J. and Jacobs, H. I. and Properzi, M. J. and Sanchez, J. S. and others},
title = {{Inferior temporal tau is associated with accelerated prospective cortical thinning in clinically normal older adults}},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116991},
pmid = {32512123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116991}
}
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Key findings
- Neurofibrillary tau tangles are a hallmark pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are more closely associated with AD-related cortical atrophy and symptom severity than amyloid-beta (Aβ).
- Strong associations between IT FTP and cortical thinning were found, most notably in temporal, midline, and prefrontal regions, with stronger effects generally observed in the prospective as compared to retrospective time frame.
- Significant differences between prospective and retrospective rates of thinning were found in the inferior and middle temporal gyri, cingulate areas, as well as pars orbitalis such that higher IT FTP was associated with greater prospective rates of thinning.
- Within the high PiB group, significant differences between prospective and retrospective rates of thinning were similarly observed.
- These results provide support for the hypothesis that tau pathology is a driver of future atrophy as well as provide additional evidence for tau-PET as an effective AD biomarker for interventional clinical trials.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants111
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 62/100
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, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 62 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage) |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 111 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 | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32512123) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 36 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 62 out of 100. |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
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