Plasma biomarkers and neuroimaging in the Alzheimer's disease continuum.

• Grant number: 24/19135-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: June 09, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Cendes
• Grantee: Isadora Cristina Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07559-3 - BRAINN - The Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/23291-5 - Analysis of Synaptic Plasticity Biomarkers in Neuron-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Isolated from Human Plasma., BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Plasma biomarkers have been investigated in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum as they were considered as a non-invasive and economical alternative for early diagnosis. Due to the high and growing incidence of dementia in the world, there is a great need to understand the relationship between blood biomarkers and other biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD), such as neuroimaging, for example. However, it is not clear whether plasma biomarker levels reflect neurodegeneration changes, such as changes in brain anatomy observed on magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, this study aims to describe possible changes in plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and brain anatomy over a year of follow-up and verify whether there is a correlation between these parameters. 100 elderly people will be allocated into three groups (subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, control: cognitively healthy) and will be evaluated at baseline and after 12 months for plasma biomarkers (A¿40, A¿42, Tau, pTau-181, pTau-217, pTau-231, NFL, GFAP, sTREM2, through specific immunoassay kits at SIMOA - single molecule array) and regarding the volume of brain regions and integrity of white matter (through magnetic resonance imaging). For statistical analysis we will use a repeated measures ANOVA, Pearson or Spearman correlation test. Statistical significance will be considered at p<0.05.