Mood Changes in Cognitively Normal Older Adults are Linked to Alzheimer Disease Biomarker Levels

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2016 Nov;24(11):1095-1104. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2016.04.004. Epub 2016 Apr 19.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and PET Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) biomarkers of underlying Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology (β-amyloid42 [Aβ42], tau, phosphorylated tau181 [ptau181], tau/Aβ42, ptau181/Aβ42 and mean cortical binding potential [MCBP] for PET-PiB) predict changes in mood in cognitively normal older adults.

Setting: Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) at Washington University (WU).

Participants: Participants, 65 years of age or older, were enrolled from longitudinal studies at the WU Knight ADRC.

Measurements: CSF, PET-PiB biomarkers, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Profile of Mood States-Short Form (POMS-SF), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q).

Results: Data from 118 participants at baseline and 66 participants at one-year follow-up were analyzed. CSF and PET biomarkers were not associated cross-sectionally with any mood disturbances at baseline (p > 0.05). Changes in mood as indicated by the total mood disturbance score on the POMS-SF, selected POMS-SF subscales, GDS, and NPI-Q scores from baseline to one-year follow-up were associated with (p < 0.05) CSF and PET-PiB biomarkers. There was no statistically significant decline in cognitive functioning.

Conclusions: Generally, higher values of CSF and PET-PiB biomarkers are associated with more changes in mood in cognitively normal older adults. Further work is needed to understand the temporal development of mood changes over several years during the phase of preclinical AD. Evaluating mood as a noncognitive outcome may provide further insight into the development of preclinical AD in cognitively normal older adults.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease; biomarkers; depression; mood; older adults.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnostic imaging
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Aniline Compounds / metabolism*
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Depression / diagnostic imaging
  • Depression / metabolism*
  • Depressive Disorder / diagnostic imaging
  • Depressive Disorder / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Mood Disorders / diagnostic imaging
  • Mood Disorders / metabolism
  • Peptide Fragments / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Phosphoproteins / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Thiazoles / metabolism*
  • tau Proteins / cerebrospinal fluid*

Substances

  • 2-(4'-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-hydroxybenzothiazole
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Aniline Compounds
  • Biomarkers
  • MAPT protein, human
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Thiazoles
  • amyloid beta-protein (1-42)
  • tau Proteins