Comparison between Early-Onset and Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Patients with Amnestic Presentation: CSF and (18)F-FDG PET Study

Agostino Chiaravalloti; Giacomo Koch; Sofia Toniolo; Lorena Belli; Francesco Di Lorenzo; Sara Gaudenzi; Orazio Schillaci; Marco Bozzali; Giuseppe Sancesario; Alessandro Martorana

doi:10.1159/000441776

Comparison between Early-Onset and Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Patients with Amnestic Presentation: CSF and (18)F-FDG PET Study

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2016 Apr 5;6(1):108-19. doi: 10.1159/000441776. eCollection 2016 Jan-Apr.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioural and Clinical Neurology, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of System Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; Department of IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.
⁵ Department of Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Background/aims: To investigate the differences in brain glucose consumption between patients with early onset of Alzheimer's disease (EOAD, aged ≤65 years) and patients with late onset of Alzheimer's disease (LOAD, aged >65 years).

Methods: Differences in brain glucose consumption between the groups have been evaluated by means of Statistical Parametric Mapping version 8, with the use of age, sex, Mini-Mental State Examination and cerebrospinal fluid values of AΒ1-42, phosphorylated Tau and total Tau as covariates in the comparison between EOAD and LOAD.

Results: As compared to LOAD, EOAD patients showed a significant decrease in glucose consumption in a wide portion of the left parietal lobe (BA7, BA31 and BA40). No significant differences were obtained when subtracting the EOAD from the LOAD group.

Conclusions: The results of our study show that patients with EOAD show a different metabolic pattern as compared to those with LOAD that mainly involves the left parietal lobe.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers; Early onset; Late onset; Precuneus.