Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Objective: To examine sex differences in impact of florbetapir-Positron Emission Tomography (PET) amyloid positivity (A+), on hippocampus subfield volume (SV). We hypothesized women with prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD; A+ early mild cognitive impairment; eMCI), but not suspected non-AD pathophysiology (SNAP; A– eMCI) or normal cognition (NC) would show neural vulnerability in SV in the context of A+, and men would not show this pattern. Method: We examined 526 NC and eMCI participants from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI2 and ADNI-GO) with screening SV. Regression moderation models examined sex and diagnosis moderation of A+ effects on right and left SV (adjusted for total intracranial volume). Age, screening cognition, education, and apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE-4) carrier status were controlled. Results: Women with prodromal AD, but not SNAP showed smaller right cornu ammonis 4/dentate gyrus (CA4/DG; t = −3.27, p < 0.001; CI: −54.23–−13.51). No significant A+ effects were observed for NC women (t = 0.35, p = 0.72; CI: −22.95–33.02), or men with NC (t = −1.22, p = 0.22; CI: −52.98–12.47) or MCI (t = −0.67, p = 0.50 CI: −30.14–14.73). Other SV did not show sex moderating effects. Conclusion: Women with prodromal AD, but not SNAP or NC showed smaller CA4/DG volumes. There was no relationship of A+ with CA4/DG volume in men. Findings suggest sex-specific vulnerability in memory-specific brain regions in women with prodromal AD, and have implications for understanding why women show both cognitive reserve and more rapid decline in AD compared to men.
Authors: Caldwell J Kirkland, J Berg, J Cummings, S Banks
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2753615902