Accelerated Non-Atherosclerotic Brain Arterial Aging Relationship to Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer Disease Clinical Trial

Official title: Accelerated Non-Atherosclerotic Brain Arterial Aging Relationship to Alzheimer's Disease

Status Enrolling by invitation

Clinical Trial Summary

The aging of the United States (US) population will lead to a steep rise in Alzheimer disease (AD). There is an urgent need for novel therapies that may tackle this looming societal problem. People with Alzheimer disease have frequently evidence of vascular disease in the brain, and vascular disease can increase the risk of Alzheimer disease. Based on this finding, the investigators plan to expand the understanding of how vascular disease contributes to Alzheimer disease, hoping to identify novel target to modify the natural progression of the disease. The investigators will accomplish this goal by inviting 300 participants (with and without dementia) of the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) to undergo a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and donate blood. Of the 300 participants enrolled, 60 participants will be randomly selected to undergo Aβ and tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

From the brain MRI, the investigators will obtain measurements of cerebrovascular disease and relate the to the risk of Alzheimer disease. With the blood, the investigators hope to identify measures of aging and inflammation that may predict changes noted in brain scan and identify people at a higher risk of dementia. The investigators will examine PET markers of inflammation and aging in the brain and how the markers relate to dementia.

Clinical Trial Description

Research about non-atherosclerotic BAA and its effects on cognition has been hampered by the lack of high-resolution arterial wall imaging, the preponderance of research focused on intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) and the lack of mechanistic studies. This study aims to address these shortcomings. By using high-resolution brain arterial wall imaging in participants in the NOMAS cohort, the investigators will derive a wall-based measure of non-atherosclerotic BAA and relate it to pre-MRI cognitive trajectories, AD risk, and ipsilateral markers of neurodegeneration including Aβ/tau PET imaging. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alzheimer Disease
• Dementia

• NCT number: NCT04510168
• Study type: Observational
• Source: Columbia University
• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Start date: September 18, 2020
• Completion date: April 2025