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The striatum is an early, accurate indicator of amyloid burden using [11C]PiB in Down syndrome: Comparison of two radiotracers
McLachlan M, Bettcher B, McVea A, DiFilippo A, Zammit M, LeMerise L, Rouanet J, Price J et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2025-04-01
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Introduction Adults with Down syndrome demonstrate striatum-first amyloid accumulation with [ 11 C]Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, which has not been replicated with [ 18 F]florbetapir (FBP). Early striatal accumulation has not been temporally quantified with respect to global cortical measures. Methods Longitudinal PiB (n = 175 participants) and FBP (n = 92 participants) data from the Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium-Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) were used to measure cortical and striatal binding. Generalized temporal models for cortical and striatal amyloid accumulation were created using the sampled iterative local approximation (SILA) method. Results PiB demonstrated greater striatal-to-cortical ratios than FBP. SILA analysis revealed striatal amyloid burden occurs 3.40 (2.39) years earlier than the cortex in PiB. There was no difference between the cortex and striatum in FBP. Discussion Among adults with Down syndrome, the striatum consistently accumulates amyloid earlier than the cortex when measured with PiB. This suggests the striatum is more sensitive to the onset of PiB PET-detectable amyloid in Down syndrome. Highlights Striatal amyloid is detectable 3.4 years before the cortex using PiB PET in DS. Florbetapir PET does not detect early striatal amyloid accumulation in DS. White matter can be used as reference region in longitudinal florbetapir PET. SILA trajectory models can be used to compare regional estimates for age of onset.
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APA 7th
McLachlan, M., Bettcher, B., McVea, A., DiFilippo, A., Zammit, M., LeMerise, L., et al. (2025). The striatum is an early, accurate indicator of amyloid burden using [11C]PiB in Down syndrome: Comparison of two radiotracers. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70141
Vancouver
McLachlan M, Bettcher B, McVea A, DiFilippo A, Zammit M, LeMerise L, et al. The striatum is an early, accurate indicator of amyloid burden using [11C]PiB in Down syndrome: Comparison of two radiotracers. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.70141. PMID: 40189783.
BibTeX
@article{mclachlan2025-40189783,
author = {McLachlan, M. and Bettcher, B. and McVea, A. and DiFilippo, A. and Zammit, M. and LeMerise, L. and Rouanet, J. and Price, J. and others},
title = {{The striatum is an early, accurate indicator of amyloid burden using [11C]PiB in Down syndrome: Comparison of two radiotracers}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/alz.70141},
pmid = {40189783},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70141}
}
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Key findings
- Results PiB demonstrated greater striatal-to-cortical ratios than FBP.
- SILA analysis revealed striatal amyloid burden occurs 3.40 (2.39) years earlier than the cortex in PiB.
Why it matters
This longitudinal imaging study found that in adults with Down syndrome, the striatum accumulates amyloid about 3.4 years earlier than the cortex when measured with PiB PET, but florbetapir PET did not detect this early striatal accumulation. It improves understanding of how to detect amyloid onset but does not test any treatment or cure.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants175
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 60/100
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. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 58 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 60 out of 100.
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 175 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 | 2 / 7 | Cited 13 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 13 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author ACIP Investigators holds only 4 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40189783) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 58 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 58 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 60 out of 100. |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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