Background: Biochemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could reflect pathophysiological processes in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it is still not clear how these processes correlate with grey matter (GM) volume and microstructural changes in the brain.
Objective: To assess the relationship between CSF biomarkers and structural brain changes in AD.
Design and setting: Cross-sectional study in a memory clinic-based sample.
Subjects: A total of 78 subjects were included in the study: 22 with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), 35 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 21 with AD.
Main outcome measures: Voxel-wise correlations between CSF biomarkers, including β-amyloid42 (Aβ42), tau phosphorylated at position threonine 181 and total tau protein, and GM volume, self-diffusion fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) maps using voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistical analyses. FA and MD maps were obtained using diffusion tensor imaging.
Results: In the whole sample (patients with SCI, MCI and AD), there was positive correlation between GM volume and Aβ42 concentration, and negative correlation with total tau protein. Higher FA was only related to higher concentration of Aβ42. MD showed significant negative correlation with Aβ42 and positive correlation with T-tau levels. The majority of brain regions with significant correlation with CSF biomarkers overlapped with the default mode network and extended to the adjacent white matter.
Conclusions: Early AD pathological changes can be detected with voxel-based morphometric analysis and diffusion tensor imaging measurements. Furthermore, there was an association between CSF AD biomarkers and structural brain changes in areas related to the default mode network.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease (AD); cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers; diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); fractional anisotropy (FA); grey matter (GM); mean diffusivity (MD).
© 2013 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine.