Maria-Eleni Dounavi, Elizabeth McKiernan, Michael Langsen, Sarah Gregory, Graciela Muniz-Terrera, Maria Angeles Prats-Sedano, Marius Ovidiu Mada, Guy B Williams, Brian Lawlor, Lorina Naci, Clare Mackay, Ivan Koychev, Paresh Malhotra, Karen Ritchie, Craig W Ritchie, Li Su, Adam D Waldman, John T O’ Brien,
Brain Communications (2024)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae138
Summary
Changes of functional nature in the brain in people who develop dementia later on, are thought to occur before any anatomical/structural changes and before any cognitive symptoms appear. In this study the concentration of brain metabolites within a region called the ‘posterior cingulate/precuneus’, which is one of the first regions where Alzheimer’s-related changes appear, were investigated. An MRI technique called Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy was used to do this.
Very subtle differences were found between people with and without dementia family history, people with dementia family history had a lower concentration of a metabolite called N-acetylaspartate. We also found associations between the concentration of several metabolites and cardiovascular risk for dementia. These were mainly driven by older age and a higher body mass index. Presence of a risk gene for future Alzheimer’s disease was not found to have an impact in the concentration of metabolites at this stage.