Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2025
Hybrid PET/MRI Imaging of Alzheimer's Disease Based on 18F-AV-1451
Published on: April 18, 2025
Plasma p-tau181 and GFAP reflect 7T MR-derived changes in Alzheimer's disease: A longitudinal study of structural and
Laura Göschel1,2, Andrea Dell'Orco1,2,3,4, Ariane Fillmer3
1Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Background:
Associations between longitudinal changes of plasma biomarkers and cerebral magnetic resonance (MR)-derived measurements in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain unclear.
Methods:
In a study population (n = 127) of healthy older adults and patients within the AD continuum, we examined associations between longitudinal plasma amyloid beta 42/40 ratio, tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-tau181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and 7T structural and functional MR imaging and spectroscopy using linear mixed models.
Results:
Increases in both p-tau181 and GFAP showed the strongest associations to 7T MR-derived measurements, particularly with decreasing parietal cortical thickness, decreasing connectivity of the salience network, and increasing neuroinflammation as determined by MR spectroscopy (MRS) myo-inositol.
Discussion:
Both plasma p-tau181 and GFAP appear to reflect disease progression, as indicated by 7T MR-derived brain changes which are not limited to areas known to be affected by tau pathology and neuroinflammation measured by MRS myo-inositol, respectively.
Highlights:
This study leverages high-resolution 7T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR spectroscopy (MRS) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) plasma biomarker insights. Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-tau181) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) showed the largest changes over time, particularly in the AD group. p-tau181 and GFAP are robust in reflecting 7T MR-based changes in AD. The strongest associations were for frontal/parietal MR changes and MRS neuroinflammation.
