Journal
JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE
Volume 85, Issue 4, Pages 1745-1754Publisher
IOS PRESS
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215163
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease; cognitive function genetic risk scores; pathway; tau
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [81771451, 81871438]
- Beijing Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar [JQ20036]
- Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (National Institutes of Health) [U01AG024904]
- DOD ADNI (Department of Defense) [W81XWH-12-2-0012]
- National Institute on Aging
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
- Alzheimer's Association
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
- Araclon Biotech
- Biogen
- CereSpir, Inc.
- Cogstate
- Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Eli Lilly and Company
- EuroImmun
- F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd,
- Genentech, Inc.
- Fujirebio
- GE Healthcare
- IXICO Ltd.
- Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development, LLC.
- Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.
- Lumosity
- Lundbeck
- Merck Co., Inc.
- Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC.
- NeuroRx Research
- Neurotrack Technologies
- Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
- Pfizer Inc.
- Piramal Imaging
- Servier
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
- Transition Therapeutics
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- AbbVie
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
- Eisai Inc.
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This study explored the potential of using specific polygenic risk scores (PRSs) as predictors of tau pathology and cognitive decline in non-demented individuals. The results showed that higher PRS was associated with elevated tau levels, greater rates of tau level changes, and memory impairment mediated by increased tau levels.
Background: Tauopathy is a primary neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease with a strong relationship to cognitive impairment. In the brain, tau aggregation is associated with the regulation of tau kinases and the binding ability of tau to microtubules. Objective: To explore the potential for using specific polygenic risk scores (PRSs), combining the genetic influences involved in tau-protein kinases and the tau-protein binding pathway, as predictors of tau pathology and cognitive decline in non-demented individuals. Methods: We computed a pathway-specific PRS using summary statistics from previous large-scale genome-wide association studies of dementia. We examined whether PRS is related to tau uptake in positron emission tomography (PET), tau levels, and the rate of tau level changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We further assessed whether PRS is associated with memory impairment mediated by CSF tau levels. Results: A higher PRS was related to elevated CSF tau levels and tau-PET uptake at baseline, as well as greater rates of change in CSF tau levels. Moreover, PRS was associated with memory impairment, mediated by increased CSF tau levels. The association between PRS and tau pathology was significant when APOE was excluded, even among females. However, the effect of PRS on cognitive decline appeared to be driven by the inclusion of APOE. Conclusion: The influence of genetic risk in a specific tau-related biological pathway may make an individual more susceptible to tau pathology, resulting in cognitive dysfunction in an early preclinical phase of the disease.
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