Anniina Snellman (Sweden)
The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg
Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry
Anniina Snellman is a biomedical researcher working with molecular neuroimaging and fluid biomarker development for neurodegenerative diseases. She holds a MSc in Drug Discovery and Development from the University of Turku, Finland, and obtained her PhD from the Preclinical Imaging Laboratory of Turku PET Centre, University of Turku in 2017. Since then, she has been working as a researcher in the Neurological research group of Turku PET Centre, where her work focuses on the interplay of early neuroinflammation, synaptic changes and beta-amyloid deposition in individuals at risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. In 2020, she started as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Neurochemical pathophysiology and diagnostics research group at University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where she is at present working with fluid biomarker development for Alzheimer’s disease, with her main focus on tau.

Presenter of 1 Presentation

 Conference Calendar

ASSOCIATION OF PLASMA P-TAU231, P-TAU181 AND GFAP WITH BETA-AMYLOID AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN HEALTHY ELDERLY APOE Ε4 CARRIERS

Session Name
1090 - FLUID BIOMARKERS 2 (ID 204)
Session Type
SYMPOSIUM
Date
Fri, 18.03.2022
Session Time
09:10 AM - 11:10 AM
Room
ONSITE: 131-132
Lecture Time
09:10 AM - 09:25 AM
Presenter

Abstract

Aims

Plasma p-tau231, p-tau181 and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) are biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease pathology known to increase early in Alzheimer’s continuum. We investigated differences in plasma p-tau231, p-tau181 and GFAP concentrations, and their association with beta-amyloid deposition and cognitive performance in healthy volunteers with and without increased genetic risk for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.

Methods

Cognitively unimpaired participants (N=60), aged 60-75-years, with either APOE ε4/ε4 (N=19), APOE ε4/ε3 (N=21) or APOE ε3/ε3 genotype (N=20) underwent amyloid positron emission tomography with 11C-PiB, blood sampling and cognitive assessment with the API preclinical cognitive composite. Plasma biomarkers were measured with Single molecule array (Simoa) technology. 11C-PiB uptake was quantified as standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) to cerebellar cortex. Amyloid positivity was defined as SUVR >1.5 in cortical composite volume-of-interest.

Results

Plasma p-tau231 and p-tau181 showed significant differences between cognitively unimpaired APOE groups (p=0.027 and p=0.042, 1-way ANOVA). A similar trend was observed for plasma GFAP (p=0.08). After post-hoc multiple comparisons, significantly higher p-tau231 concentration was present in APOE ε4/ε4 compared with APOE ε3/ε3 (p=0.025). All plasma biomarkers were associated with amyloid deposition in composite volume-of-interest (rs=0.31-0.40, p<0.018 for all), however, voxel-wise analysis revealed slightly different spatial patterns for p-tau markers and GFAP (Figure 1). In the whole cohort, only higher plasma GFAP concentration was associated with lower cognitive composite score (rs=-0.36, p=0.0047).

figure 1b.jpg

Conclusions

Plasma p-tau231 and p-tau181 were increased in healthy APOE ε4 carriers and associated with 11C-PiB binding with different spatial pattern than plasma GFAP.

Hide