Cited by 564Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsCancer-related cognitive impairment studies

Preclinical Alzheimer's disease and its outcome: a longitudinal cohort study

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Vos, Stephanie JB, Xiong, Chengjie, Visser, Pieter Jelle, Jasielec, Mateusz S, Hassenstab, Jason, Grant, Elizabeth A, Cairns, Nigel J, Morris, John C +2 more·2013·The Lancet Neurology

Abstract

Background New research criteria for preclinical Alzheimer's disease have been proposed, which include stages for cognitively normal individuals with abnormal amyloid markers (stage 1), abnormal amyloid and neuronal injury markers (stage 2), or abnormal amyloid and neuronal injury markers and subtle cognitive changes (stage 3). We aimed to investigate the prevalence and long-term outcome of preclinical Alzheimer's disease according to these criteria.Methods Participants were cognitively normal (clinical dementia rating [CDR]=0) community-dwelling volunteers aged at least 65 years who were enrolled between 1998 and 2011 at the Washington University School of Medicine (MO, USA). CSF amyloid-β1-42 and tau concentrations and a memory composite score were used to classify participants as normal (both markers normal), preclinical Alzheimer's disease stage 1-3, or suspected non-Alzheimer pathophysiology (SNAP, abnormal injury marker without abnormal amyloid marker). The primary outcome was the proportion of participants in each preclinical AD stage. Secondary outcomes included progression to CDR at least 0·5, symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (score of at least 0·5 for memory and at least one other domain and cognitive impairments deemed to be due to Alzheimer's disease), and mortality. We undertook survival analyses using subdistribution and standard Cox hazards models and linear mixed models.Findings Of 311 participants, 129 (41%) were classed as normal, 47 (15%) as stage 1, 36 (12%) as stage 2, 13 (4%) as stage 3, 72 (23%) as SNAP, and 14 (5%) remained unclassified. The 5-year progression rate to CDR at least 0·5, symptomatic Alzheimer's disease was 2% for participants classed as normal, 11% for stage 1, 26% for stage 2, 56% for stage 3, and 5% for SNAP. Compared with individuals classed as normal, participants with preclinical Alzheimer's disease had an increased risk of death after adjusting for covariates (hazard ratio 6·2, 95% CI 1·1-35·0; p=0·040).Interpretation Preclinical Alzheimer's disease is common in cognitively normal elderly people and is associated with future cognitive decline and mortality. Thus, preclinical Alzheimer's disease could be an important target for therapeutic intervention.Funding National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health (P01-AG003991, P50-AG05681, P01-AG02676), Internationale Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek, the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine project LeARN, the EU/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking, and the Charles and Joanne Knight Alzheimer Research Initiative.

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  • Initial studies in this emerging area have identified subgroups of older adults with subtle cognitive decline that do not conform to expected patterns and investigators have designated them as Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathology (SNAP) and Unclassified groups.

    “Initial studies in this emerging area have identified subgroups of older adults with subtle cognitive decline that do not conform to expected patterns and investigators have designated them as Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathology (SNAP) and Unclassified groups [51, 52].”

    From Neuropsychological Criteria for Mild Cognitive Impairment Improves Diagnostic Precision, Biomarker Associations, and Progression Rates (2014) · cites this paper as [52]

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  • The rate of cognitive decline is significantly greater for cognitively impaired and CU individuals who have abnormalities in both an amyloid biomarker and a second biomarker type (CSF T-tau or P-tau, atrophy, or hypometabolism) in comparison to individuals who have neither or only one of these biomarker abnormalities.

    “The rate of cognitive decline is significantly greater for cognitively impaired and CU individuals who have abnormalities in both an amyloid biomarker and a second biomarker type (which could be CSF T-tau or P-tau, atrophy, or hypometabolism) in comparison to individuals who have neither or only one of these biomarker abnormalities [30–35,39,40,42–45].”

    From NIA‐AA Research Framework: Toward a biological definition of Alzheimer's disease (2018) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Methods classify stages 2 and 3 by abnormal CSF amyloid and tau, and the Results report significantly faster decline in those stages than in the normal and SNAP groups. However, the cohort was cognitively normal at baseline, and this study did not test atrophy or hypometabolism as the second biomarker. It also does not establish significantly faster decline for every comparison with the amyloid-only stage 1 group. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • The combination of an abnormal MRI, CSF T-tau, or FDG PET study with an abnormal amyloid biomarker provides much more powerful prediction of future cognitive decline than an abnormal amyloid study alone.

    “However, the combination of an abnormal MRI, CSF T-tau, or FDG PET study with an abnormal amyloid biomarker provides much more powerful prediction of future cognitive decline [30–35,39,40,42–45] than an abnormal amyloid study alone.”

    From NIA‐AA Research Framework: Toward a biological definition of Alzheimer's disease (2018) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Methods classify stage 1 as abnormal CSF amyloid alone and stage 2 as abnormal CSF amyloid plus tau. The Results report higher five-year progression to symptomatic AD in stage 2 (26%) than stage 1 (11%), supporting the CSF-tau part of the comparison. This study did not directly test whether adding an abnormal MRI or FDG-PET study improved prediction over amyloid alone. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Soluble p-tau and t-tau are increased already in preclinical disease (no cognitive impairment but evidence of AD pathology).

    “longitudinal studies have demonstrated that soluble p-tau and t-tau are increased already in preclinical disease (e.g., no cognitive impairment but evidence of AD pathology).5,6”

    From Cerebrospinal fluid p-tau231 as an early indicator of emerging pathology in Alzheimer's disease (2022) · cites this paper as [5]

    The Methods sections on CSF markers and NIA-AA classification report that cognitively normal participants could have abnormal CSF t-tau or p-tau 181 at preclinical AD stage 2. But stage 2 required only one of the two tau markers to be abnormal, and stage 1 required neither; the paper does not establish that both are increased throughout preclinical AD. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Studies estimating Alzheimer's disease duration should be age-specific and should account for APOE genotype, sex, and cerebrospinal fluid tau levels.

    “Attempts to quantify the duration of AD should be age-specific, because age imposes the greatest risk for both dementia and mortality, and take into account APOE genotype, sex, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau levels [4, 6, 10-12].”

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Authors
Vos, S. J., Xiong, C., Visser, P. J., Jasielec, M. S., Hassenstab, J., Grant, E. A., Cairns, N. J., Morris, J. C., Holtzman, D. M., & Fagan, A. M.
Affiliations
  • Maastricht University (NL)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author
  • Vos, Stephanie JB
  • Fagan, Anne M
Venue
The Lancet Neurology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-10
Volume
12
Issue
10
Pages
957-965
ISSN
1474-4422 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2096063777
Cited by
564
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 54 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 54 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 7
FWCI
38.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Lancet Neurology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Mayo Clinic
  • Center for Translational Molecular Medicine
  • National Institute on Aging (P 50 AG05681, P50AG005681, P01AG003991, U19AG032438, P01-AG02676, P01AG026276)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK094982)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P30NS057105)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Cancer-related cognitive impairment studies
Keywords
preclinical Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-beta 42, tau protein, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, cognitive decline, conversion to dementia, mortality, prevalence, cognitively normal elderly, Alzheimer's disease staging, community-dwelling older adults
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Apolipoproteins E, Brain, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Peptide Fragments, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Severity of Illness Index, Prevalence, Survival Analysis, Amyloid beta-Peptides, tau Proteins, Disease Progression, Memory, Episodic, Prodromal Symptoms

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