TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of Multimodal Imaging and Clinical Biomarkers in Presymptomatic Carriers of C9orf72 Repeat Expansion
AU - De Vocht, Joke
AU - Blommaert, Jeroen
AU - Devrome, Martijn
AU - Radwan, Ahmed
AU - Van Weehaeghe, Donatienne
AU - De Schaepdryver, Maxim
AU - Ceccarini, Jenny
AU - Rezaei, Ahmadreza
AU - Schramm, Georg
AU - van Aalst, June
AU - Chiò, Adriano
AU - Pagani, Marco
AU - Stam, Daphne
AU - Van Esch, Hilde
AU - Lamaire, Nikita
AU - Verhaegen, Marianne
AU - Mertens, Nathalie
AU - Poesen, Koen
AU - van den Berg, Leonard H
AU - van Es, Michael A
AU - Vandenberghe, Rik
AU - Vandenbulcke, Mathieu
AU - Van den Stock, Jan
AU - Koole, Michel
AU - Dupont, Patrick
AU - Van Laere, Koen
AU - Van Damme, Philip
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding/Support: This study was funded by the Thierry Latran Foundation, University Hospitals Leuven, and the Sequoia Fund for research on aging and mental health. Ms De Vocht is a PhD student funded by the University Hospitals Leuven. Dr Van Damme holds a senior clinical investigatorship of FWO-Vlaanderen and is supported by the E. von Behring Chair for Neuromuscular and Neurodegenerative Disorders, the ALS Liga België, and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven funds Een Hart voor ALS, Laeversfonds voor ALS Onderzoek, and the Valéry Perrier Race Against ALS Fund. Mr Blommaert, Mr Devrome, Dr Van Weehaeghe, Mr De Schaepdryver, and Ms Mertens are supported by PhD fellowships, and Dr Ceccarini is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from FWO-Vlaanderen.
Funding Information:
reported receiving grants from Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven and the Thierry Latran Foundation during the conduct of the study. Dr Van Weehaeghe reported receiving grants from Fonds Wetenschappelijk onderzoek (FWO) during the conduct of the study. Dr Van Laere reported receiving grants from GE Healthcare, UCB, Janssens Pharmaceuticals, Eikonizo, Syndesi, and Cerveau outside the submitted work. Dr Van Damme reported receiving grants from the Thierry Latran Foundation during the conduct of the study; grants from E. von Behring Chair for Neuromuscular and Neurodegenerative Disorders, and payment to the institution from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Cytokinetics, and Biogen for participation in advisory board meetings outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - Importance: During a time with the potential for novel treatment strategies, early detection of disease manifestations at an individual level in presymptomatic carriers of a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene (preSxC9) is becoming increasingly relevant. Objectives: To evaluate changes in glucose metabolism before symptom onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or frontotemporal dementia in preSxC9 using simultaneous fluorine 18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ([
18F]FDG positron emission tomographic (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging as well as the mutation's association with clinical and fluid biomarkers. Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective, case-control study enrolled 46 participants from November 30, 2015, until December 11, 2018. The study was conducted at the neuromuscular reference center of the University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Main Outcomes and Measures: Neuroimaging data were spatially normalized and analyzed at the voxel level at a height threshold of P <.001, cluster-level familywise error-corrected threshold of P <.05, and statistical significance was set at P <.05 for the volume-of-interest level analysis, using Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple correction. W-score maps were computed using the individuals serving as controls as a reference to quantify the degree of [
18F]FDG PET abnormality. The threshold for abnormality on the W-score maps was designated as an absolute W-score greater than or equal to 1.96. Neurofilament levels and performance on cognitive and neurologic examinations were determined. All hypothesis tests were 1-sided. Results: Of the 42 included participants, there were 17 with the preSxC9 mutation (12 women [71%]; mean [SD] age, 51 [9] years) and 25 healthy controls (12 women [48%]; mean [SD] age, 47 [10] years). Compared with control participants, significant clusters of relative hypometabolism were found in frontotemporal regions, basal ganglia, and thalami of preSxC9 participants and relative hypermetabolism in the peri-Rolandic region, superior frontal gyrus, and precuneus cortex. W-score frequency maps revealed reduced glucose metabolism with local maxima in the insular cortices, central opercular cortex, and thalami in up to 82% of preSxC9 participants and increased glucose metabolism in the precentral gyrus and precuneus cortex in up to 71% of preSxC9 participants. Other findings in the preSxC9 group were upper motor neuron involvement in 10 participants (59%), cognitive abnormalities in 5 participants (29%), and elevated neurofilament levels in 3 of 16 individuals (19%) who underwent lumbar puncture. Conclusions and Relevance: The results suggest that [
18F]FDG PET can identify glucose metabolic changes in preSxC9 at an individual level, preceding significantly elevated neurofilament levels and onset of symptoms..
AB - Importance: During a time with the potential for novel treatment strategies, early detection of disease manifestations at an individual level in presymptomatic carriers of a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene (preSxC9) is becoming increasingly relevant. Objectives: To evaluate changes in glucose metabolism before symptom onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or frontotemporal dementia in preSxC9 using simultaneous fluorine 18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ([
18F]FDG positron emission tomographic (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging as well as the mutation's association with clinical and fluid biomarkers. Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective, case-control study enrolled 46 participants from November 30, 2015, until December 11, 2018. The study was conducted at the neuromuscular reference center of the University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Main Outcomes and Measures: Neuroimaging data were spatially normalized and analyzed at the voxel level at a height threshold of P <.001, cluster-level familywise error-corrected threshold of P <.05, and statistical significance was set at P <.05 for the volume-of-interest level analysis, using Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple correction. W-score maps were computed using the individuals serving as controls as a reference to quantify the degree of [
18F]FDG PET abnormality. The threshold for abnormality on the W-score maps was designated as an absolute W-score greater than or equal to 1.96. Neurofilament levels and performance on cognitive and neurologic examinations were determined. All hypothesis tests were 1-sided. Results: Of the 42 included participants, there were 17 with the preSxC9 mutation (12 women [71%]; mean [SD] age, 51 [9] years) and 25 healthy controls (12 women [48%]; mean [SD] age, 47 [10] years). Compared with control participants, significant clusters of relative hypometabolism were found in frontotemporal regions, basal ganglia, and thalami of preSxC9 participants and relative hypermetabolism in the peri-Rolandic region, superior frontal gyrus, and precuneus cortex. W-score frequency maps revealed reduced glucose metabolism with local maxima in the insular cortices, central opercular cortex, and thalami in up to 82% of preSxC9 participants and increased glucose metabolism in the precentral gyrus and precuneus cortex in up to 71% of preSxC9 participants. Other findings in the preSxC9 group were upper motor neuron involvement in 10 participants (59%), cognitive abnormalities in 5 participants (29%), and elevated neurofilament levels in 3 of 16 individuals (19%) who underwent lumbar puncture. Conclusions and Relevance: The results suggest that [
18F]FDG PET can identify glucose metabolic changes in preSxC9 at an individual level, preceding significantly elevated neurofilament levels and onset of symptoms..
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085172590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.1087
DO - 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.1087
M3 - Article
C2 - 32421156
SN - 2168-6149
VL - 77
SP - 1008
EP - 1017
JO - JAMA Neurology
JF - JAMA Neurology
IS - 8
ER -