Clinical heterogeneity of neuro-inflammatory PET profiles in early Alzheimer's disease

Dominique Gouilly; Anne-Sophie Salabert; Elsa Bertrand; Marie Goubeaud; Hélène Catala; Johanne Germain; Nadéra Ainaoui; Marie Rafiq; Marie Benaiteau; Jasmine Carlier; Leonor Nogueira; Mélanie Planton; Anne Hitzel; Déborah Méligne; Benjamine Sarton; Stein Silva; Béatrice Lemesle; Pierre Payoux; Claire Thalamas; Patrice Péran; Jérémie Pariente

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1189278

Clinical heterogeneity of neuro-inflammatory PET profiles in early Alzheimer's disease

Front Neurol. 2023 Jul 31:14:1189278. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1189278. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Dominique Gouilly¹, Anne-Sophie Salabert^{1

2}, Elsa Bertrand³, Marie Goubeaud³, Hélène Catala³, Johanne Germain³, Nadéra Ainaoui³, Marie Rafiq^{1

4}, Marie Benaiteau⁴, Jasmine Carlier⁴, Leonor Nogueira⁵, Mélanie Planton^{1

4}, Anne Hitzel², Déborah Méligne¹, Benjamine Sarton^{1

6}, Stein Silva^{1

6}, Béatrice Lemesle⁴, Pierre Payoux^{1

2}, Claire Thalamas³, Patrice Péran¹, Jérémie Pariente^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Toulouse Neuroimaging Center, UMR 1214, Inserm/UPS, Toulouse, France.
² Department of Nuclear Medicine, Toulouse Purpan University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France.
³ Center of Clinical Investigation (CIC 1436), Toulouse Purpan University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France.
⁴ Department of Cognitive Neurology, Epilepsy and Movement Disorders, Toulouse Purpan University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France.
⁵ Laboratory of Cell Biology and Cytology, Toulouse Purpan University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France.
⁶ Critical Care Unit, Toulouse Purpan University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France.

Abstract

The relationship between neuroinflammation and cognition remains uncertain in early Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed a cross-sectional study to assess how neuroinflammation is related to cognition using TSPO PET imaging and a multi-domain neuropsychological assessment. A standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) analysis was performed to measure [¹⁸F]-DPA-714 binding using the cerebellar cortex or the whole brain as a (pseudo)reference region. Among 29 patients with early AD, the pattern of neuroinflammation was heterogeneous and exhibited no correlation with cognition at voxel-wise, regional or whole-brain level. The distribution of the SUVR values was independent of sex, APOE phenotype, early and late onset of symptoms and the presence of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. However, we were able to demonstrate a complex dissociation as some patients with similar PET pattern had opposed neuropsychological profiles while other patients with opposite PET profiles had similar neuropsychological presentation. Further studies are needed to explore how this heterogeneity impacts disease progression.

Keywords: Alzheimer; PET scan; TSPO; neuroinflammation; neuropsychology.

Copyright © 2023 Gouilly, Salabert, Bertrand, Goubeaud, Catala, Germain, Ainaoui, Rafiq, Benaiteau, Carlier, Nogueira, Planton, Hitzel, Méligne, Sarton, Silva, Lemesle, Payoux, Thalamas, Péran and Pariente.