AUTHOR=Li Kaidi , Qu Hang , Ma Mingyi , Xia Chenyu , Cai Ming , Han Fang , Zhang Qing , Gu Xinyi , Ma Qiang 

TITLE=Correlation Between Brain Structure Atrophy and Plasma Amyloid-β and Phosphorylated Tau in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment Explored by Surface-Based Morphometry

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.816043

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2022.816043

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=Objective: To investigate the changes in the cortical thickness of the region of interest and plasma Aβ40, Aβ42 and phosphorylated Tau concentrations in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment as the disease progressed with surface-based morphometry, to analyze the correlation between cortical thickness and measured plasma indexes and neuropsychological scales, and to explore the clinical value of ROI cortical thickness combined with plasma Aβ40, Aβ42 and P-Tau in the early recognition and diagnosis of AD.
Methods: In this study, the whole brain T1 structure images of each group of patients were collected, and analyzed and processed by SBM technology to obtain brain regions of each cluster with statistical differences, and the cortical thickness of each cluster was extracted. Multivariate ordered logistic regression analysis was used to screen out the measured plasma indexes and the indexes with independent risk factors in the cortical thickness of each cluster. Three comparative ROC curves of each groups were plotted respectively to explore the diagnostic value of multi-factor combined prediction for cognitive impairment. The correlations between cortical thickness and plasma indexes, and between cortical thickness and MMSE and MoCA scores were clarified by Pearson correlation analysis.
Results: The cortical thickness of the ROI was negatively correlated with plasma Aβ40, Aβ42 and P-Tau concentrations (P < 0.05), and the cortical thickness of the ROI was positively correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores. Independent risk factors such as Aβ40, Aβ42, P-Tau and AD-NC cluster 1R (right temporal lobe, ect.) were obtained via screening of multivariate ordered logistic regression analysis. Cortical thickness indexes and plasma indexes were combined to plot ROC curves, and the diagnostic efficiency of plasma indexes was higher than that of cortical thickness indexes, and the diagnostic efficiency of ROC curves after the combination of cortical thickness and plasma indexes was higher than that of cortical thickness or plasma indexes alone. 
Conclusion: Plasma Aβ40, Aβ42 and P-Tau may be potential biomarkers for early prediction of AD. The combined prediction of ROI cortical thickness and plasma Aβ40, Aβ42 and P-Tau had a higher diagnostic value than single-factor prediction for cognitive decline.