Marta Milà-Alomà, PhD, Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain, discusses biomarkers of synaptic function, including neurogranin, SNAP-25, synaptotagmin-1, and GAP-43, and how they associate with structural and functional brain changes in individuals with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To test these associations, the biomarkers were assessed in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 328 cognitively unimpaired individuals. Participants were categorized by their amyloid (A+) and tau (T+) positivity status to determine whether these associations were modified by AD pathology. In the total population, the results showed that higher levels of the four synaptic biomarkers were associated with increased brain metabolism (FDG PET uptake) and higher grey matter volume. However, these associations were modified by the presence of AD pathology. A+T+ participants showed a positive association between synaptic markers and brain metabolism, compared to A-T-, but grey matter volume was negatively associated with synaptic biomarkers with pathology progression. These are the first results to show what the synaptic biomarkers reflect in terms of brain pathology in the early stages of AD. This interview took place at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2022 in San Diego, CA.
