Amyloid-PET of the white matter: Relationship to free water, fiber integrity, and cognition in patients with dementia and small vessel disease

White matter (WM) injury is frequently observed along with dementia. Positron emission tomography with amyloid-ligands (A beta-PET) recently gained interest for detecting WM injury. Yet, little is understood about the origin of the altered A beta-PET signal in WM regions. Here, we investigated the relative contributions of diffusion MRI-based microstructural alterations, including free water and tissue-specific properties, to A beta-PET in WM and to cognition. We included a unique cohort of 115 participants covering the spectrum of low-to-severe white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden and cognitively normal to dementia. We applied a bi-tensor diffusion-MRI model that differentiates between (i) the extracellular WM compartment (represented via free water), and (ii) the fiber-specific compartment (via free water-adjusted fractional anisotropy [FA]). We observed that, in regions of WMH, a decrease in A beta-PET related most closely to higher free water and higher WMH volume. In contrast, in normal-appearing WM, an increase in A beta-PET related more closely to higher cortical A beta (together with lower free water-adjusted FA). In relation to cognitive impairment, we observed a closer relationship with higher free water than with either free water-adjusted FA or WM PET. Our findings support free water and A beta-PET as markers of WM abnormalities in patients with mixed dementia, and contribute to a better understanding of processes giving rise to the WM PET signal.

Automated summary

This study investigated the relationship between A beta-PET signal in white matter (WM) regions and diffusion MRI-based microstructural alterations. The results showed that decreased A beta-PET signal in WMH regions was closely associated with higher free water and higher WMH volume, while increased A beta-PET signal in normal-appearing WM was closely associated with higher cortical A beta and lower free water-adjusted FA. Furthermore, cognitive impairment was more closely related to higher free water than to either free water-adjusted FA or WM PET.