Subjective cognitive impairment score associate with regional amyloid burden and brain atrophy in subjective cognitive decline subjects

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSubjective cognitive decline (SCD) is now regarded as the first preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) spectrum disorders. It is important to predict which patients would progress to dementia, and screening tools might be helpful. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible correlations between AD biomarkers‐regional amyloid burden and volume changes‐and Korean Dementia Screening Questionnaire‐Cognition (KDSQ‐C) score in SCD.MethodThis study analyzed SCD data from prospective population cohort study from July 2018 to December 2020. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetry, visual and standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) analysis of 18F‐Florbetaben brain amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (PET) were performed. Demographics, physical data, social and physiological functions were also obtained.KDSQ‐C was administered to SCD subjects as part of the clinical evaluation at the 36 month follow‐up visit. KDSQ‐C included 15 questions that assess 3 dimensions: memory impairment (items 1‐5), other cognitive impairments including language impairments (items 6‐10), and the ability to perform complex tasks in daily life (items 11‐15).ResultPrevalence of subjective cognitive impairment (KDSQ‐C ≧6) among 86 subjects was 73.3%.. No significant difference was observed between groups in terms of demographic characteristics including age, sex and APOE Ɛ4 status and neuropsychological test. However, regional SUVR (amygdala, inferior temporal gyrus and precuneus) and global SUVR were significantly higher in subjectively cognitive impaired group(p<0.05). There were no brain volume differences between groups.For volumetry and KDSQ‐C correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis controlled for age, sex and APOE Ɛ4 status showed significant negative correlation between left entorhinal cortex, right hippocampal volume and KDSQ‐C (r = ‐0.230, p = 0.046; r = ‐0.226, p = 0.049). Similar association was also found between KDSQ‐C memory domain score and brain volume.ConclusionKDSQ‐C can be a useful tool for screening SCD patients at a higher risk with higher amyloid deposition and brain atrophy.This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, HI18C0530