The objective of the study was to evaluate the relationship of plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) markers, and their association with cognitive function across the early stages of the AD continuum. Determining these associations may clarify the AD-related biological pathways and support the development of integrated AD blood and ¹H-MRS biomarkers for early detection of these pathways. Fifty-five older adults (40 cognitively unimpaired; 15 mild cognitive impairment) from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging underwent single-voxel ¹H-MRS (sLASER) at 3T in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG) and left hippocampus (LH), along with plasma assays for Aβ42/40, phosphorylated tau (p-tau181), and the p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio. Associations between plasma biomarkers and ¹H-MRS metabolites (myo-inositol [mIns]/total creatine [tCr], total N-acetylaspartate [tNAA]/tCr, and tNAA/mIns) were examined using partial Spearman correlations (rho, ρ) adjusted for age and sex. Next, associations of the Mini-Mental State Examination with p-tau181/Aβ42 and tNAA/mIns were examined adjusting for the same covariates plus education. In both PCG and LH regions, lower tNAA/mIns was associated with higher p-tau181/Aβ42 (PCG:ρ=-0.59; LH:ρ=-0.54) and p-tau181 (PCG: ρ=-0.38; LH:ρ =-0.39), as well as with lower Aβ42/40 (PCG:ρ=0.40; LH:ρ=0.32). Higher mIns/tCr was associated with higher p-tau181/Aβ42 (PCG: ρ=0.56; LH:ρ=0.46) and p-tau181 (PCG:ρ=0.37; LH:ρ=0.31). Lower PCG and LH tNAA/mIns ratios were associated with lower MMSE (PCG:ρ=0.53; LH:ρ=0.46), while higher p-tau181/Aβ42 was associated with lower MMSE (ρ=-0.49). ¹H-MRS-derived gliosis and neuronal injury biomarkers are associated with early AD pathology, and cognitive performance, supporting their use as noninvasive biomarkers in early AD.
1H-MR spectroscopy biomarkers are associated with plasma-derived biomarkers of amyloid-β and tau in the early phase of AD continuum.
Firat Kara,J. Joers,S. Przybelski,A. Algeciras-Schimnich,Jeffrey Gunter,Clifford R Jack,R. Petersen,Gülin Öz,K. Kantarci
Published 2025 in Neurobiology of Aging
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- Publication year
2025
- Venue
Neurobiology of Aging
- Publication date
2025-11-01
- Fields of study
Medicine
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Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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