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Racial differences in longitudinal Alzheimer's disease biomarkers among cognitively normal adults
Xiong C, Luo J, Schindler SE, Fagan AM, Benzinger T, Hassenstab J, Balls-Berry JE, Agboola F et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2022-02-25
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Introduction Longitudinal changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analytes, amyloid uptakes from positron emission tomography (PET), structural outcomes from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cognition, have not been compared between Blacks and Whites. Methods A total of 179 Blacks and 1180 Whites who were cognitively normal at baseline and had longitudinal data from at least one biomarker modality were analyzed for the annual rates of change. Results CSF amyloid beta (Aβ)42/Aβ40 declined more slowly (P = .0390), and amyloid (PET) accumulated more slowly (P = .0157), in Blacks than Whites. CSF Aβ42 changed in opposite directions over time between Blacks and Whites (P = .0039). The annual increase in CSF total tau and phosphorylated tau181 for Blacks was about half of that for Whites. Discussion Longitudinal racial differences in amyloid biomarkers are observed. It will be important to comprehensively and prospectively examine the effects of apolipoprotein E genotype and sociocultural factors on these differences.
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APA 7th
Xiong, C., Luo, J., Schindler, S. E., Fagan, A. M., Benzinger, T., Hassenstab, J., et al. (2022). Racial differences in longitudinal Alzheimer's disease biomarkers among cognitively normal adults. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12608
Vancouver
Xiong C, Luo J, Schindler SE, Fagan AM, Benzinger T, Hassenstab J, et al. Racial differences in longitudinal Alzheimer's disease biomarkers among cognitively normal adults. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2022. doi:10.1002/alz.12608. PMID: 35218143.
BibTeX
@article{xiong2022-35218143,
author = {Xiong, C. and Luo, J. and Schindler, S. E. and Fagan, A. M. and Benzinger, T. and Hassenstab, J. and Balls-Berry, J. E. and Agboola, F. and others},
title = {{Racial differences in longitudinal Alzheimer's disease biomarkers among cognitively normal adults}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1002/alz.12608},
pmid = {35218143},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12608}
}
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Key findings
- Results CSF amyloid beta (Aβ)42/Aβ40 declined more slowly (P = .0390), and amyloid (PET) accumulated more slowly (P = .0157), in Blacks than Whites.
Why it matters
Among 179 Black and 1,180 White cognitively normal adults, amyloid biomarkers declined or accumulated more slowly in Black participants, and CSF total tau and phosphorylated tau181 increased about half as much. This is an observational study of biomarker differences and does not test any treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants179
- Evidence strengthModerate
Limitations
There were far fewer Black participants (179) than White participants (1,180) in this analysis, and it looked only at people who were cognitively normal at the start, so it cannot say how these differences play out once symptoms appear.
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a leading specialty 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.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| 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 | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 179 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 | 2 / 5 | 3.8 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 17 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John C. Morris: h-index 209 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35218143) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
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