Abstract Summary/Description
INTRODUCTION: Older Black Americans are at a much higher risk for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) than Caucasian counterparts, a difference which can only partially be explained by socioeconomic factors and other medical information. In this study, we investigated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and their predictive role on subcortical atrophy in the precuneus and posterior cingulate in a middle aged, at-risk, racially diverse cohort. METHODS: The data set included 76 cognitively unimpaired, middle aged, Black Americans (N=29, F/M=17/12) and Non-Hispanic White (N=47, F/M=27/20) participants. We compared CSF tau, Aβ42, Aβ40, precuneal volumes, and posterior cingulate volumes. RESULTS: Brain volume analysis revealed that Black American men were found to have the lowest precuneal volumes of all groups compared, with white participants not demonstrating any sex differences in precuneal volumes. CSF biomarker analysis shows that Black American participants often have lower CSF Aβ42, which is related to lower precuneal volumes, a correlation that was not noted in the groups of white participants. DISCUSSION: Results make sense considering previous literature, and because lower CSF Aβ42 is indicative of higher Aβ plaque burden, our results indicate that in Black Americans, CSF Aβ42 could be utilized to predict level of Aβ plaque burden and resulting subcortical atrophy of the precuneus. This research is important because not all measurable differences across race can be attributed to socioeconomic factors like ADI. In the future, comparisons should be made with larger sample sizes and including information about cardiovascular risk factors and white matter hyperintensities.
