A Multiplexed Urinary Biomarker Panel Has Potential for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis Using Targeted Proteomics and Machine Learning.

As disease-modifying therapies are now available for Alzheimer's disease (AD), accessible, accurate and affordable biomarkers to support diagnosis are urgently needed. We sought to develop a mass spectrometry-based urine test as a high-throughput screening tool for diagnosing AD. We collected urine from a discovery cohort (n = 11) of well-characterised individuals with AD (n = 6) and their asymptomatic, CSF biomarker-negative study partners (n = 5) and used untargeted proteomics for biomarker discovery. Protein biomarkers identified were taken forward to develop a high-throughput, multiplexed and targeted proteomic assay which was tested on an independent cohort (n = 21). The panel of proteins identified are known to be involved in AD pathogenesis. In comparing AD and controls, a panel of proteins including MIEN1, TNFB, VCAM1, REG1B and ABCA7 had a classification accuracy of 86%. These proteins have been previously implicated in AD pathogenesis. This suggests that urine-targeted mass spectrometry has potential utility as a diagnostic screening tool in AD.

Loss and dispersion of superficial white matter in Alzheimer's disease: a diffusion MRI study.

Pathological cerebral white matter changes in Alzheimer's disease have been shown using diffusion tensor imaging. Superficial white matter changes are relatively understudied despite their importance in cortico-cortical connections. Measuring superficial white matter degeneration using diffusion tensor imaging is challenging due to its complex organizational structure and proximity to the cortex. To overcome this, we investigated diffusion MRI changes in young-onset Alzheimer's disease using standard diffusion tensor imaging and Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging to distinguish between disease-related changes that are degenerative (e.g. loss of myelinated fibres) and organizational (e.g. increased fibre dispersion). Twenty-nine young-onset Alzheimer's disease patients and 22 healthy controls had both single-shell and multi-shell diffusion MRI. We calculated fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, neurite density index, orientation dispersion index and tissue fraction (1-free water fraction). Diffusion metrics were sampled in 15 a priori regions of interest at four points along the cortical profile: cortical grey matter, grey/white boundary, superficial white matter (1 mm below grey/white boundary) and superficial/deeper white matter (2 mm below grey/white boundary). To estimate cross-sectional group differences, we used average marginal effects from linear mixed effect models of participants' diffusion metrics along the cortical profile. The superficial white matter of young-onset Alzheimer's disease individuals had lower neurite density index compared to controls in five regions (superior and inferior parietal, precuneus, entorhinal and parahippocampus) (all P < 0.05), and higher orientation dispersion index in three regions (fusiform, entorhinal and parahippocampus) (all P < 0.05). Young-onset Alzheimer's disease individuals had lower fractional anisotropy in the entorhinal and parahippocampus regions (both P < 0.05) and higher fractional anisotropy within the postcentral region (P < 0.05). Mean diffusivity was higher in the young-onset Alzheimer's disease group in the parahippocampal region (P < 0.05) and lower in the postcentral, precentral and superior temporal regions (all P < 0.05). In the overlying grey matter, disease-related changes were largely consistent with superficial white matter findings when using neurite density index and fractional anisotropy, but appeared at odds with orientation dispersion and mean diffusivity. Tissue fraction was significantly lower across all grey matter regions in young-onset Alzheimer's disease individuals (all P < 0.001) but group differences reduced in magnitude and coverage when moving towards the superficial white matter. These results show that microstructural changes occur within superficial white matter and along the cortical profile in individuals with young-onset Alzheimer's disease. Lower neurite density and higher orientation dispersion suggests underlying fibres undergo neurodegeneration and organizational changes, two effects previously indiscernible using standard diffusion tensor metrics in superficial white matter.

The emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: clinical, radiological and laboratory findings.

Preliminary clinical data indicate that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with neurological and neuropsychiatric illness. Responding to this, a weekly virtual coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) neurology multi-disciplinary meeting was established at the National Hospital, Queen Square, in early March 2020 in order to discuss and begin to understand neurological presentations in patients with suspected COVID-19-related neurological disorders. Detailed clinical and paraclinical data were collected from cases where the diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed through RNA PCR, or where the diagnosis was probable/possible according to World Health Organization criteria. Of 43 patients, 29 were SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive and definite, eight probable and six possible. Five major categories emerged: (i) encephalopathies (n = 10) with delirium/psychosis and no distinct MRI or CSF abnormalities, and with 9/10 making a full or partial recovery with supportive care only; (ii) inflammatory CNS syndromes (n = 12) including encephalitis (n = 2, para- or post-infectious), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (n = 9), with haemorrhage in five, necrosis in one, and myelitis in two, and isolated myelitis (n = 1). Of these, 10 were treated with corticosteroids, and three of these patients also received intravenous immunoglobulin; one made a full recovery, 10 of 12 made a partial recovery, and one patient died; (iii) ischaemic strokes (n = 8) associated with a pro-thrombotic state (four with pulmonary thromboembolism), one of whom died; (iv) peripheral neurological disorders (n = 8), seven with Guillain-Barré syndrome, one with brachial plexopathy, six of eight making a partial and ongoing recovery; and (v) five patients with miscellaneous central disorders who did not fit these categories. SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a wide spectrum of neurological syndromes affecting the whole neuraxis, including the cerebral vasculature and, in some cases, responding to immunotherapies. The high incidence of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, particularly with haemorrhagic change, is striking. This complication was not related to the severity of the respiratory COVID-19 disease. Early recognition, investigation and management of COVID-19-related neurological disease is challenging. Further clinical, neuroradiological, biomarker and neuropathological studies are essential to determine the underlying pathobiological mechanisms that will guide treatment. Longitudinal follow-up studies will be necessary to ascertain the long-term neurological and neuropsychological consequences of this pandemic.

Prion disease diagnosis using subject-specific imaging biomarkers within a multi-kernel Gaussian process.

Prion diseases are a group of rare neurodegenerative conditions characterised by a high rate of progression and highly heterogeneous phenotypes. Whilst the most common form of prion disease occurs sporadically (sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, sCJD), other forms are caused by prion protein gene mutations, or exposure to prions in the diet or by medical procedures, such us surgeries. To date, there are no accurate quantitative imaging biomarkers that can be used to predict the future clinical diagnosis of a healthy subject, or to quantify the progression of symptoms over time. Besides, CJD is commonly mistaken for other forms of dementia. Due to the heterogeneity of phenotypes and the lack of a consistent geometrical pattern of disease progression, the approaches used to study other types of neurodegenerative diseases are not satisfactory to capture the progression of human form of prion disease. In this paper, using a tailored framework, we aim to classify and stratify patients with prion disease, according to the severity of their illness. The framework is initialised with the extraction of subject-specific imaging biomarkers. The extracted biomakers are then combined with genetic and demographic information within a Gaussian Process classifier, used to calculate the probability of a subject to be diagnosed with prion disease in the next year. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method in a cohort of patients with inherited and sporadic forms of prion disease. The model has shown to be effective in the prediction of both inherited CJD (92% of accuracy) and sporadic CJD (95% of accuracy). However the model has shown to be less effective when used to stratify the different stages of the disease, in which the average accuracy is 85%, whilst the recall is 59%. Finally, our framework was extended as a differential diagnosis tool to identify both forms of CJD among another neurodegenerative disease. In summary we have developed a novel method for prion disease diagnosis and prediction of clinical onset using multiple sources of features, which may have use in other disorders with heterogeneous imaging features.

Longitudinal neuroanatomical and cognitive progression of posterior cortical atrophy.

Posterior cortical atrophy is a clinico-radiological syndrome characterized by progressive decline in visual processing and atrophy of posterior brain regions. With the majority of cases attributable to Alzheimer's disease and recent evidence for genetic risk factors specifically related to posterior cortical atrophy, the syndrome can provide important insights into selective vulnerability and phenotypic diversity. The present study describes the first major longitudinal investigation of posterior cortical atrophy disease progression. Three hundred and sixty-one individuals (117 posterior cortical atrophy, 106 typical Alzheimer's disease, 138 controls) fulfilling consensus criteria for posterior cortical atrophy-pure and typical Alzheimer's disease were recruited from three centres in the UK, Spain and USA. Participants underwent up to six annual assessments involving MRI scans and neuropsychological testing. We constructed longitudinal trajectories of regional brain volumes within posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease using differential equation models. We compared and contrasted the order in which regional brain volumes become abnormal within posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease using event-based models. We also examined trajectories of cognitive decline and the order in which different cognitive tests show abnormality using the same models. Temporally aligned trajectories for eight regions of interest revealed distinct (P < 0.002) patterns of progression in posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease. Patients with posterior cortical atrophy showed early occipital and parietal atrophy, with subsequent higher rates of temporal atrophy and ventricular expansion leading to tissue loss of comparable extent later. Hippocampal, entorhinal and frontal regions underwent a lower rate of change and never approached the extent of posterior cortical involvement. Patients with typical Alzheimer's disease showed early hippocampal atrophy, with subsequent higher rates of temporal atrophy and ventricular expansion. Cognitive models showed tests sensitive to visuospatial dysfunction declined earlier in posterior cortical atrophy than typical Alzheimer's disease whilst tests sensitive to working memory impairment declined earlier in typical Alzheimer's disease than posterior cortical atrophy. These findings indicate that posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease have distinct sites of onset and different profiles of spatial and temporal progression. The ordering of disease events both motivates investigation of biological factors underpinning phenotypic heterogeneity, and informs the selection of measures for clinical trials in posterior cortical atrophy.

The functional neuroanatomy of musical memory in Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Memory for music has attracted much recent interest in Alzheimer's disease but the underlying brain mechanisms have not been defined in patients directly. Here we addressed this issue in an Alzheimer's disease cohort using activation fMRI of two core musical memory systems. METHODS: We studied 34 patients with younger onset Alzheimer's disease led either by episodic memory decline (typical Alzheimer's disease) or by visuospatial impairment (posterior cortical atrophy) in relation to 19 age-matched healthy individuals. We designed a novel fMRI paradigm based on passive listening to melodies that were either previously familiar or unfamiliar (musical semantic memory) and either presented singly or repeated (incidental musical episodic memory). RESULTS: Both syndromic groups showed significant functional neuroanatomical alterations relative to the healthy control group. For musical semantic memory, disease-associated activation group differences were localised to right inferior frontal cortex (reduced activation in the group with memory-led Alzheimer's disease); while for incidental musical episodic memory, disease-associated activation group differences were localised to precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex (abnormally enhanced activation in the syndromic groups). In post-scan behavioural testing, both patient groups had a deficit of musical episodic memory relative to healthy controls whereas musical semantic memory was unimpaired. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings define functional neuroanatomical substrates for the differential involvement of musical semantic and incidental episodic memory in major phenotypes of Alzheimer's disease. The complex dynamic profile of brain activation group differences observed suggests that musical memory may be an informative probe of neural network function in Alzheimer's disease. These findings may guide the development of future musical interventions in dementia.

Differences in hippocampal subfield volume are seen in phenotypic variants of early onset Alzheimer's disease.

The most common presentation of early onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD - defined as symptom onset <65 years) is with progressive episodic memory impairment - amnestic or typical Alzheimer's disease (tAD). However, EOAD is notable for its phenotypic heterogeneity, with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) - characterised by prominent higher-order visual processing deficits and relative sparing of episodic memory - the second most common canonical phenotype. The hippocampus, which comprises a number of interconnected anatomically and functionally distinct subfields, is centrally involved in Alzheimer's disease and is a crucial mediator of episodic memory. The extent to which volumes of individual hippocampal subfields differ between different phenotypes in EOAD is unclear. The aim of this analysis was to investigate the hypothesis that patients with a PCA phenotype will exhibit differences in specific hippocampal subfield volumes compared to tAD. We studied 63 participants with volumetric T1-weighted MRI performed on the same 3T scanner: 39 EOAD patients [27 with tAD and 12 with PCA] and 24 age-matched controls. Volumetric estimates of the following hippocampal subfields for each participant were obtained using Freesurfer version 6.0: CA1, CA2/3, CA4, presubiculum, subiculum, hippocampal tail, parasubiculum, the molecular and granule cell layers of the dentate gryus (GCMLDG), the molecular layer, and the hippocampal amygdala transition area (HATA). Linear regression analyses comparing mean hippocampal subfield volumes between groups, adjusting for age, sex and head size, were performed. Using a Bonferonni-corrected p-value of p < 0.0025, compared to controls, tAD was associated with atrophy in all hippocampal regions, except the parasubiculum. In PCA patients compared to controls, the strongest evidence for volume loss was in the left presubiclum, right subiculum, right GCMLDG, right molecular layer and the right HATA. Compared to PCA, patients with tAD had strong evidence for smaller volumes in left CA1 and left hippocampal tail. In conclusion, these data provide evidence that hippocampal subfield volumes differ in different phenotypes of EOAD.

Navigational cue effects in Alzheimer's disease and posterior cortical atrophy.

OBJECTIVE: Deficits in spatial navigation are characteristic and disabling features of typical Alzheimer's disease (tAD) and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Visual cues have been proposed to mitigate such deficits; however, there is currently little empirical evidence for their use. METHODS: The effect of visual cues on visually guided navigation was assessed within a simplified real-world setting in individuals with tAD (n = 10), PCA (n = 8), and healthy controls (n = 12). In a repeated-measures design comprising 36 trials, participants walked to a visible target destination (an open door within a built environment), with or without the presence of an obstacle. Contrast and motion-based cues were evaluated; both aimed to facilitate performance by applying perceptual changes to target destinations without carrying explicit information. The primary outcome was completion time; secondary outcomes were measures of fixation position and walking path directness during consecutive task phases, determined using mobile eyetracking and motion capture methods. RESULTS: Results illustrate marked deficits in patients' navigational ability, with patient groups taking an estimated two to three times longer to reach target destinations than controls and exhibiting tortuous walking paths. There were no significant differences between tAD and PCA task performance. Overall, patients took less time to reach target destinations under cue conditions (contrast-cue: 11.8%; 95% CI: [2.5, 20.3]) and were more likely initially to fixate on targets. INTERPRETATION: The study evaluated navigation to destinations within a real-world environment. There is evidence that introducing perceptual changes to the environment may improve patients' navigational ability.

Cortical microstructure in young onset Alzheimer's disease using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with extensive alterations in grey matter microstructure, but our ability to quantify this in vivo is limited. Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) is a multi-shell diffusion MRI technique that estimates neuritic microstructure in the form of orientation dispersion and neurite density indices (ODI/NDI). Mean values for cortical thickness, ODI, and NDI were extracted from predefined regions of interest in the cortical grey matter of 38 patients with young onset AD and 22 healthy controls. Five cortical regions associated with early atrophy in AD (entorhinal cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and precuneus) and one region relatively spared from atrophy in AD (precentral gyrus) were investigated. ODI, NDI, and cortical thickness values were compared between controls and patients for each region, and their associations with MMSE score were assessed. NDI values of all regions were significantly lower in patients. Cortical thickness measurements were significantly lower in patients in regions associated with early atrophy in AD, but not in the precentral gyrus. Decreased ODI was evident in patients in the inferior and middle temporal gyri, fusiform gyrus, and precuneus. The majority of AD-related decreases in cortical ODI and NDI persisted following adjustment for cortical thickness, as well as each other. There was evidence in the patient group that cortical NDI was associated with MMSE performance. These data suggest distinct differences in cortical NDI and ODI occur in AD and these metrics provide pathologically relevant information beyond that of cortical thinning.

Eyetracking Metrics in Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease: A Window into Cognitive Visual Functions.

Young onset Alzheimer's disease (YOAD) is defined as symptom onset before the age of 65 years and is particularly associated with phenotypic heterogeneity. Atypical presentations, such as the clinic-radiological visual syndrome posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), often lead to delays in accurate diagnosis. Eyetracking has been used to demonstrate basic oculomotor impairments in individuals with dementia. In the present study, we aim to explore the relationship between eyetracking metrics and standard tests of visual cognition in individuals with YOAD. Fifty-seven participants were included: 36 individuals with YOAD (n = 26 typical AD; n = 10 PCA) and 21 age-matched healthy controls. Participants completed three eyetracking experiments: fixation, pro-saccade, and smooth pursuit tasks. Summary metrics were used as outcome measures and their predictive value explored looking at correlations with visuoperceptual and visuospatial metrics. Significant correlations between eyetracking metrics and standard visual cognitive estimates are reported. A machine-learning approach using a classification method based on the smooth pursuit raw eyetracking data discriminates with approximately 95% accuracy patients and controls in cross-validation tests. Results suggest that the eyetracking paradigms of a relatively simple and specific nature provide measures not only reflecting basic oculomotor characteristics but also predicting higher order visuospatial and visuoperceptual impairments. Eyetracking measures can represent extremely useful markers during the diagnostic phase and may be exploited as potential outcome measures for clinical trials.

ApoE influences regional white-matter axonal density loss in Alzheimer's disease.

Mechanisms underlying phenotypic heterogeneity in young onset Alzheimer disease (YOAD) are poorly understood. We used diffusion tensor imaging and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) with tract-based spatial statistics to investigate apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 modulation of white-matter damage in 37 patients with YOAD (22, 59% APOE ε4 positive) and 23 age-matched controls. Correlation between neurite density index (NDI) and neuropsychological performance was assessed in 4 white-matter regions of interest. White-matter disruption was more widespread in ε4+ individuals but more focal (posterior predominant) in the absence of an ε4 allele. NODDI metrics indicate fractional anisotropy changes are underpinned by combinations of axonal loss and morphological change. Regional NDI in parieto-occipital white matter correlated with visual object and spatial perception battery performance (right and left, both p = 0.02), and performance (nonverbal) intelligence (WASI matrices, right, p = 0.04). NODDI provides tissue-specific microstructural metrics of white-matter tract damage in YOAD, including NDI which correlates with focal cognitive deficits, and APOEε4 status is associated with different patterns of white-matter neurodegeneration.

Music Perception in Dementia.

Despite much recent interest in music and dementia, music perception has not been widely studied across dementia syndromes using an information processing approach. Here we addressed this issue in a cohort of 30 patients representing major dementia syndromes of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 16), logopenic aphasia (LPA, an Alzheimer variant syndrome; n = 5), and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA; n = 9) in relation to 19 healthy age-matched individuals. We designed a novel neuropsychological battery to assess perception of musical patterns in the dimensions of pitch and temporal information (requiring detection of notes that deviated from the established pattern based on local or global sequence features) and musical scene analysis (requiring detection of a familiar tune within polyphonic harmony). Performance on these tests was referenced to generic auditory (timbral) deviance detection and recognition of familiar tunes and adjusted for general auditory working memory performance. Relative to healthy controls, patients with AD and LPA had group-level deficits of global pitch (melody contour) processing while patients with PNFA as a group had deficits of local (interval) as well as global pitch processing. There was substantial individual variation within syndromic groups. Taking working memory performance into account, no specific deficits of musical temporal processing, timbre processing, musical scene analysis, or tune recognition were identified. The findings suggest that particular aspects of music perception such as pitch pattern analysis may open a window on the processing of information streams in major dementia syndromes. The potential selectivity of musical deficits for particular dementia syndromes and particular dimensions of processing warrants further systematic investigation.

Effect of age at onset on cortical thickness and cognition in posterior cortical atrophy.

Age at onset (AAO) has been shown to influence the phenotype of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but how it affects atypical presentations of AD remains unknown. Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is the most common form of atypical AD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of AAO on cortical thickness and cognitive function in 98 PCA patients. We used Freesurfer (v5.3.0) to compare cortical thickness with AAO both as a continuous variable, and by dichotomizing the groups based on median age (58 years). In both the continuous and dichotomized analyses, we found a pattern suggestive of thinner cortex in precuneus and parietal areas in earlier-onset PCA, and lower cortical thickness in anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in later-onset PCA. These cortical thickness differences between PCA subgroups were consistent with earlier-onset PCA patients performing worse on cognitive tests involving parietal functions. Our results provide a suggestion that AAO may not only affect the clinico-anatomical characteristics in AD but may also affect atrophy patterns and cognition within atypical AD phenotypes.

Do cerebrospinal fluid transfer methods affect measured amyloid ß42, total tau, and phosphorylated tau in clinical practice?

INTRODUCTION: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurodegenerative markers are measured clinically to support a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Several preanalytical factors may alter the CSF concentrations of amyloid ß 1-42 (Aß1-42) in particular with the potential to influence diagnosis. We aimed to determine whether routine handling of samples alters measured biomarker concentration compared with that of prompt delivery to the laboratory. METHODS: Forty individuals with suspected neurodegenerative diseases underwent diagnostic lumbar punctures using a standardized technique. A sample of each patient's CSF was sent to the laboratory by four different delivery methods: (1) by courier at room temperature; (2) by courier, on ice; (3) using standard hospital portering; and (4) after quarantining for >24 hours. Aß1-42, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) levels measured using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques were compared between transfer methods. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in Aß1-42, t-tau, or p-tau concentrations measured in samples transported via the different delivery methods despite significant differences in time taken to deliver samples. DISCUSSION: When CSF is collected in appropriate tubes, transferred at room temperature, and processed within 24 hours, neurodegenerative markers can be reliably determined.