Please note: We are currently experiencing some performance issues across the site, and some pages may be slow to load. We are working on restoring normal service soon. Importing new articles from Word documents is also currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Lijuan Xu

and 5 more

The most typical pathological change in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the aggregated deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ). APOE ε3/ε3 is the most prevalent genotype in the AD population. Individuals with amyloid-PET (Aβ-PET) positivity (+) and disease progression may not be a minority in the APOE ε3/ε3 non-demented population. This study searched for accessible and available clinical models that can predict Aβ-PET (+), and assess factors that can predict clinical conversion in APOE ε3/ε3 non-demented individuals. We selected 293 non-demented individuals with APOE ε3/ε3 from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. They were divided into Aβ-PET (+) and Aβ-PET (-) groups based on the 18F-florbetapir PET SUVR cut-off value of >1.11. Stepwise regression and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were used to search for a single or a combination of clinical variables, and to assess the accuracy of clinical markers, respectively. The Cox regression model was used to explore the risk factors associated with clinical transition. Our study found that the combination of clinical markers (Model A4: sex, education, ventricle and WMH volume; Model D5: everyday cognition study-partner total (EcogSPTotal) score, age, plasma p-tau 181 and WMH) respectively predicted Aβ-PET status in cognitively normal (CN) individuals and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals. Aβ-PET (+) and EcogSPTotal score were independent predictors of clinical transition in APOE ε3/ε3 non-demented individuals. These specific factors offered an attractive and cost-effective assessment for Aβ status and clinical conversion.