Cited by 220Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Neuroinflammation and Functional Connectivity in Alzheimer's Disease: Interactive Influences on Cognitive Performance

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Passamonti, L., Tsvetanov, K.A., Jones, P.S., Bevan-Jones, W.R., Arnold, R., Borchert, R.J., Mak, E., Su, L. +2 more·2019·The Journal of Neuroscience

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Neuroinflammation is a key part of the etio-pathogenesis of Alzheimer9s disease (AD). We tested the relationship between neuroinflammation and the disruption of functional connectivity in large-scale networks, and their joint influence on cognitive impairment. We combined [11C]PK11195 positron emission tomography (PET) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in 28 patients (12 females/16 males) with clinical diagnosis of probable AD or mild cognitive impairment with positive PET biomarker for amyloid, and 14 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (8 females/6 males). Source-based “inflammetry” was used to extract principal components of [11C]PK11195 PET signal variance across all participants. rs-fMRI data were preprocessed via independent component analyses to classify neuronal and non-neuronal signals. Multiple linear regression models identified sources of signal covariance between neuroinflammation and brain connectivity profiles, in relation to the diagnostic group (patients, controls) and cognitive status. Patients showed significantly higher [11C]PK11195 binding relative to controls, in a distributed spatial pattern including the hippocampus, frontal, and inferior temporal cortex. Patients with enhanced loading on this [11C]PK11195 binding distribution displayed diffuse abnormal functional connectivity. The expression of a stronger association between such abnormal connectivity and higher levels of neuroinflammation correlated with worse cognitive deficits. Our study suggests that neuroinflammation relates to the pathophysiological changes in network function that underlie cognitive deficits in Alzheimer9s disease. Neuroinflammation, and its association with functionally-relevant reorganization of brain networks, is proposed as a target for emerging immunotherapeutic strategies aimed at preventing or slowing the emergence of dementia. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neuroinflammation is an important aspect of Alzheimer9s disease (AD), but it was not known whether the influence of neuroinflammation on brain network function in humans was important for cognitive deficit. Our study provides clear evidence that in vivo neuroinflammation in AD impairs large-scale network connectivity; and that the link between neuro inflammation and functional network connectivity is relevant to cognitive impairment. We suggest that future studies should address how neuroinflammation relates to network function as AD progresses, and whether the neuroinflammation in AD is reversible, as the basis of immunotherapeutic strategies to slow the progression of AD.

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  1. Barnett V, Lewis T (1994) Outliers in statistical data. Chichester: Wiley.

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Authors
Passamonti, L., Tsvetanov, K. A., Jones, P. S., Bevan-Jones, W. R., Arnold, R., Borchert, R. J., Mak, E., Su, L., O'Brien, J. T., & Rowe, J. B.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2019-07-18
Volume
39
Issue
36
Pages
7218-7226
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2962369126
Cited by
220
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 4
FWCI
11.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo
Funders
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • Wellcome Trust (103838/Z/14/Z, JBR 103838, 103838, 088324/Z/09/Z)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (RG64473, 103838)
  • British Academy (PF160048)
  • Cambridge University Hospitals (146281)
  • Medical Research Council (MR/P01271X/1, RG91365)
  • NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (RG64473)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
neuroinflammation, Alzheimer's disease, functional connectivity, large-scale brain networks, [11C]PK11195 PET, microglial activation, cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, resting-state fMRI, network reorganization, immunotherapy
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Amides, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition, Female, Hippocampus, Humans, Inflammation, Isoquinolines, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Radiopharmaceuticals, Positron-Emission Tomography, Connectome

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