title: Varying strength of cognitive markers and biomarkers to predict conversion and cognitive decline in an early-stage-enriched mild cognitive impairment sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several cognitive, neuroimaging, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers predict conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. However, predictors might be more or less powerful depending on the characteristics of the MCI sample.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate which cognitive markers and biomarkers predict conversion to AD dementia and course of cognitive functioning in a MCI sample with a high proportion of early-stage MCI patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Variables known to predict progression in MCI patients and hypothesized to predict progression in early-stage MCI patients were selected. Cognitive (long-delay free recall, regional primacy score), imaging (hippocampal and entorhinal cortex volumes, fornix fractional anisotropy), and CSF (Aβ1-42/t-tau, Aβ1-42) variables from 36 MCI patients were analyzed with Cox regression and mixed-effect models to determine their individual and combined abilities to predict time to conversion to AD dementia and course of global cognitive functioning, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Those variables hypothesized to predict the course of early-stage MCI patients were most predictive for MCI progression. Specifically, regional primacy score (a measure of word-list position learning) most consistently predicted conversion to AD dementia and course of cognitive functioning. Both the prediction of conversion and course of cognitive functioning were maximized by including CSF Aβ1-42 and fornix integrity biomarkers, respectively, indicating the complementary information carried by cognitive variables and biomarkers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Predictors of MCI progression need to be interpreted in light of the characteristics of the respective MCI sample. Future studies should aim to compare predictive strengths of markers between early-stage and late-stage MCI patients.
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, University Center for Medicine of Aging Basel, Felix Platter-Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simone C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Egli
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, University Center for Medicine of Aging Basel, Felix Platter-Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniela I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Hirni
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, University Center for Medicine of Aging Basel, Felix Platter-Hospital, Basel, Switzerland Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Experimental Psychology, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Kirsten I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Technology, University of Applied Sciences Koblenz, Koblenz, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berres
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Regeniter
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gass
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, University Center for Medicine of Aging Basel, Felix Platter-Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas U
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Monsch
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinic, University Center for Medicine of Aging Basel, Felix Platter-Hospital, Basel, Switzerland Department of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sollberger
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D015415:Biomarkers; C054369:MAPT protein, human; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); D016875:tau Proteins
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; amyloid; cerebrospinal fluid; dementia; diffusion tensor imaging; fornix (brain); magnetic resonance imaging; memory; mild cognitive impairment