Introduction: Amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation is the first pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and it is associated with altered white matter (WM) microstructure. We aimed to investigate this relationship at a regional level in a cognitively unimpaired cohort.
Methods: We included 179 individuals from the European Medical Information Framework for AD (EMIF-AD) preclinAD study, who underwent diffusion magnetic resonance (MR) to determine tract-level fractional anisotropy (FA); mean, radial, and axial diffusivity (MD/RD/AxD); and dynamic [18F]flutemetamol) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to assess amyloid burden.
Results: Regression analyses showed a non-linear relationship between regional amyloid burden and WM microstructure. Low amyloid burden was associated with increased FA and decreased MD/RD/AxD, followed by decreased FA and increased MD/RD/AxD upon higher amyloid burden. The strongest association was observed between amyloid burden in the precuneus and body of the corpus callosum (CC) FA and diffusivity (MD/RD) measures. In addition, amyloid burden in the anterior cingulate cortex strongly related to AxD and RD measures in the genu CC.
Discussion: Early amyloid deposition is associated with changes in WM microstructure. The non-linear relationship might reflect multiple stages of axonal damage.
Keywords: Amyloid beta (Aβ); diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); positron emission tomography (PET); preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD); white matter microstructure.
© 2021 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.