Biomarkers

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Biomarker Discovery
• Alzheimer's Disease Research

Background:

• Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI technique for measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF).
• CBF changes are indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression and can be used as imaging biomarkers.
• This study explores ASL as a potential alternative to invasive biomarkers like PET scans.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel Alzheimer's disease meta-region of interest (meta-ROI) derived from ASL data.
• To assess the correlation between the ASL-derived meta-ROI and cognitive scores.
• To evaluate ASL's potential for tracking disease progression across cognitively normal, MCI, and AD stages.

Main Methods:

• ASL data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI3) was analyzed.
• A meta-ROI was constructed from 17 regions showing a linear relationship with ADAS-Cog scores.
• Pearson's correlation coefficient (R) was used to measure the association between meta-ROI CBF and ADAS-Cog scores in a test set.

Main Results:

• A significant correlation (R=0.72) was observed between the meta-ROI scores and cognitive performance.
• This correlation is comparable to values reported for PET (R=0.75) and CSF/plasma biomarkers.
• The findings suggest ASL-derived perfusion is a reliable indicator of cognitive status in AD.

Conclusions:

• The strong correlation supports the use of ASL-derived biomarkers for predicting and monitoring AD progression.
• ASL offers a non-invasive imaging alternative for assessing disease status.
• Further research can validate ASL's role in clinical settings for dementia management.