title: Cerebral blood flow is diminished in asymptomatic middle-aged adults with maternal history of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Cerebral blood flow (CBF) provides an indication of the metabolic status of the cortex and may have utility in elucidating preclinical brain changes in persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related diseases. In this study, we investigated CBF in 327 well-characterized adults including patients with AD (n = 28), patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI, n = 23), older cognitively normal (OCN, n = 24) adults, and asymptomatic middle-aged adults (n = 252) with and without a family history (FH) of AD. Compared with the asymptomatic cohort, AD patients displayed significant hypoperfusion in the precuneus, posterior cingulate, lateral parietal cortex, and the hippocampal region. Patients with aMCI exhibited a similar but less marked pattern of hypoperfusion. Perfusion deficits within the OCN adults were primarily localized to the inferior parietal lobules. Asymptomatic participants with a maternal FH of AD showed hypoperfusion in hippocampal and parietofrontal regions compared with those without a FH of AD or those with only a paternal FH of AD. These observations persisted when gray matter volume was included as a voxel-wise covariate. Our findings suggest that having a mother with AD might confer a particular risk for AD-related cerebral hypoperfusion in midlife. In addition, they provide further support for the potential utility of arterial spin labeling for the measurement of AD-related neurometabolic dysfunction, particularly in situations where [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose imaging is infeasible or clinically contraindicated.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Ozioma C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Okonkwo
authors.forename: Guofan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: N Maritza
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Dowling
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Carlsson
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: Alex C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Birdsill
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palotti
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wharton
authors.forename: Bruce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: Asenath
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: LaRue
authors.forename: Barbara B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Bendlin
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Rowley
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asthana
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sager
authors.forename: Sterling C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4