Amyloid and tau-PET in early-onset AD: Baseline data from the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer′s Disease Study (LEADS)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to describe baseline amyloid-beta (A ss) and tau-positron emission tomograrphy (PET) from Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer ' s Disease Study (LEADS), a prospective multi-site observational study of sporadic early-onset Alzheimer ' s disease (EOAD). METHODS: We analyzed baseline [18F]Florbetaben (A ss) and [18F]Flortaucipir (tau)PET from cognitively impaired participants with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD dementia aged < 65 years. Florbetaben scans were used to distinguish cognitively impaired participants with EOAD (A ss+) from EOnonAD (A ss-) based on the combination of visual read by expert reader and image quantification. RESULTS: 243/321 (75.7%) of participants were assigned to the EOAD group based on amyloid-PET; 231 (95.1%) of them were tau-PET positive (A+T+). Tau-PET signal was elevated across cortical regions with a parietal-predominant pattern, and higher burden was observed in younger and female EOAD participants. DISCUSSION: LEADS data emphasizes the importance of biomarkers to enhance diagnostic accuracy in EOAD. The advanced tau-PET binding at baseline might have implications for therapeutic strategies in patients with EOAD.