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Updated: Jul 12, 2025
Visualization of Amyloid β Deposits in the Human Brain with Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Imaging Mass Spectrometry
Published on: March 7, 2019
Plasma Oligomer β-Amyloid and White Matter Microstructural Integrity in Cognitively Normal Older Adults According to
Sheng-Min Wang1, Dong Woo Kang, Yoo Hyun Um
1Hyun Kook Lim, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 10, 63-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea, Tel; +82-2-3779-1048, Fax: +82-2-780-6577,
Background:
Multimer detection system-oligomeric amyloid-β (MDS-OAβ) measure plasma OAβ level, which is associated with earlier Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, no study has investigated MDS-OAβ differences in cognitive normal older adults (CN) with or without cerebral Aβ burden and its correlation with Aβ deposition and white matter (WM) integrity.
Objective:
To investigate associations among cerebral Aβ burden, MDS-OAβ, and WM integrity in CN.
Design:
This is a single center, cross-sectional study which used data from Catholic Aging Brain Imaging (CABI) database.
Setting:
CABI database contains brain scans of patients who visited the outpatient clinic at Catholic Brain Health Center, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, between 2017 and 2022.
Participants:
A total 34 amyloid-PET negative CN and 23 amyloid-PET positive CN were included.
Measurements:
Plasma Aβ level using MDS-OAβ, cerebral Aβ deposition level using global standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) values, WM integrity using fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), and cortical thickness from structural MRI were utilized.
Restuls:
The amyloid-PET positive group showed higher MDS-OAβ level than the amyloid-PET negative group (0.997 ± 0.19 vs. 0.79 ± 0.28, P <0.005), but they did not differ in WM integrity or cortical thickness. The MDS-OAβ positive group showed higher global cerebral Aβ deposition or mean global SUVR values (0.609 ± 0.135 vs. 0.533 ± 0.121 vs. P <0.05), lower regional FA of left forceps minor and the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (family-wise error rate, p <0.05), and lower cortical thickness of left fusiform (p <0.05, Monte Carlo simulation) than the MDS-OAβ negative group. MDS-OAβ was positively associated with global cerebral Aβ deposition (r=0.278, P <0.05) and negatively associated (r = - 0.324, P < 0.05) with regional WM integrity.
Conclusions:
In this study, MDS-OAβ value demonstrated earlier and different AD pathology than cerebral Aβ retention according to amyloid-PET. Longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the causal relationships of plasma OAβ and cerebral Aβ with WM integrity disturbance and cortical atrophy during the AD trajectory.
Insights
Plasma oligomeric amyloid-β (OAβ) levels measured by MDS-OAβ may indicate earlier Alzheimer's disease pathology than cerebral amyloid-β deposition. Elevated plasma OAβ is linked to brain amyloid burden and white matter integrity changes in cognitively normal adults.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomarkers
- Alzheimer's Disease Research
Background:
- Plasma oligomeric amyloid-β (OAβ) measured by Multimer Detection System-oligomeric amyloid-β (MDS-OAβ) is associated with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology.
- Previous research has not examined MDS-OAβ differences in cognitively normal (CN) older adults based on cerebral Aβ burden.
- The correlation between plasma OAβ, cerebral Aβ deposition, and white matter (WM) integrity in CN individuals requires investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations among cerebral Aβ burden, plasma OAβ levels (MDS-OAβ), and WM integrity in cognitively normal older adults.
- To compare MDS-OAβ levels and WM integrity between CN individuals with and without cerebral Aβ deposition.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study utilizing data from the Catholic Aging Brain Imaging (CABI) database.
- Participants included 34 amyloid-PET negative and 23 amyloid-PET positive cognitively normal individuals.
- Measurements included plasma OAβ (MDS-OAβ), cerebral Aβ deposition (SUVR), WM integrity (FA, MD), and cortical thickness from structural MRI.
Main Results:
- Amyloid-PET positive individuals had higher MDS-OAβ levels than amyloid-PET negative individuals (P <0.005).
- MDS-OAβ positive individuals showed higher cerebral Aβ deposition (P <0.05) and reduced regional WM integrity (FA, P <0.05) and cortical thickness (P <0.05).
- MDS-OAβ levels positively correlated with cerebral Aβ deposition (r=0.278, P <0.05) and negatively with WM integrity (r = -0.324, P <0.05).
Conclusions:
- MDS-OAβ levels may reflect earlier or different Alzheimer's disease pathology compared to cerebral Aβ retention identified by amyloid-PET.
- Longitudinal studies are necessary to understand the causal relationships between plasma OAβ, cerebral Aβ, WM integrity, and cortical atrophy in the AD continuum.
