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. 2021 Aug 2:13:675583.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.675583. eCollection 2021.

Severity of Subjective Cognitive Complaints and Worries in Older Adults Are Associated With Cerebral Amyloid-β Load

Claudia Schwarz  1   2 , Catharina Lange  3 , Gloria S Benson  1   2 , Nora Horn  1   2 , Katharina Wurdack  1   2 , Mathias Lukas  3   4 , Ralph Buchert  3   5 , Miranka Wirth  6 , Agnes Flöel  7   8
Affiliations

Severity of Subjective Cognitive Complaints and Worries in Older Adults Are Associated With Cerebral Amyloid-β Load

Claudia Schwarz et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is considered an early risk stage for dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the development of pathological brain changes, such as the aggregation of amyloid-beta (amyloid-β) plaques. This study evaluates the association between specific features of SCD and cerebral amyloid-β load measured by positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-florbetaben in 40 cognitively normal older individuals. Global amyloid-β, as well as regional amyloid-β load for the frontal, temporal, parietal, and cingulate cortex, was quantified. Specific features of SCD, such as subjective cognitive complaints and worry, were assessed using the 39-item Everyday Cognition Scales and the 16-item Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Spearman's rank partial correlation analyses, adjusted for age and apolipoprotein E ε4 status, were conducted to test the associations between specific features of SCD and cerebral amyloid-β load. The severity of subjective cognitive complaints in everyday memory and organization was positively correlated with amyloid-β load in the frontal cortex. In addition, the severity of subjective cognitive complaints in everyday planning was positively correlated with amyloid-β load in the parietal cortex. Higher levels of worry were associated with higher amyloid-β load in the frontal cortex. After correction of the PET data for partial volume effects, these associations were reduced to trend level. In conclusion, the severity of subjective cognitive complaints and the level of trait worry were positively associated with cortical amyloid-β burden, particularly in the frontal and parietal cortex. Further studies are required to elucidate the direction of these associations in order to develop strategies to prevent amyloid deposition and cognitive decline.

Keywords: 18F-florbetaben PET; amyloid; biomarkers; cognitively normal; preclinical Alzheimer's disease; subjective cognitive decline.

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Conflict of interest statement

AF has obtained consulting fees from Bayer and Biogen Idec., honoraria for oral presentations from Novartis, Roche, Daiichi Sankyo, Biogen Idec, and DrSchär AG, as well as royalties from the book Alzheimer-Unabwendbares Schicksal? ML was employed by the company Siemens Healthcare GmbH. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plots of the associations of regional amyloid-β load in the frontal and parietal cortex with subjective cognitive complaints in (A) memory, (B) organization, (C) planning, as well as with (D) level of worry. All variables are standardized residuals after adjusting for age and APOE ε4 status. Regional amyloid-β load was not corrected for partial volume effects. Loess regression lines with 95% CIs were added. Amyloid-β, amyloid-beta; APOE ε4, apolipoprotein E ε4; ECog-39, 39-item Everyday Cognition Scales; PSWQ, Penn State Worry Questionnaire.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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