Regional White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarkers Among Older Adults with Normal Cognition and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) frequently co-occurs with other brain pathologies. Recent studies suggest there may be a mechanistic link between AD and small vessel cerebrovascular disease (CVD), as opposed to simply the overlap of two disorders. Objective: We investigated the cross-sectional relationship between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes (markers of CVD) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD. Methods: WMH volumes were assessed globally and regionally (i.e., frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, and limbic). CSF AD biomarkers (i.e., Aβ 40, Aβ 42, Aβ 42/Aβ 40 ratio, phosphorylated tau-181 [p-tau181], and total tau [t-tau]) were measured among 152 non-demented individuals (134 cognitively unimpaired and 18 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)). Results: Linear regression models showed that among all subjects, higher temporal WHM volumes were associated with AD biomarkers (higher levels of p-tau181, t-tau, and Aβ 40), particularly among APOE ɛ 4 carriers (independent of Aβ 42 levels). Higher vascular risk scores were associated with greater parietal and frontal WMH volumes (independent of CSF AD biomarker levels). Among subjects with MCI only, parietal WMH volumes were associated with a lower level of Aβ 42/Aβ 40. In addition, there was an association between higher global WMH volumes and higher CSF t-tau levels among younger participants versus older ones (∼<65 versus 65+ years), independent of Aβ 42/Aβ 40 and p-tau181. Conclusion: These findings suggest that although WMH are primarily related to systemic vascular risk and neurodegeneration (i.e., t-tau), AD-specific pathways may contribute to the formation of WMH in a regionally-specific manner, with neurofibrillary tangles (i.e., p-tau) playing a role in temporal WMHs and amyloid (i.e., Aβ 42/Aβ 40) in parietal WMHs.