Association of plasma YKL-40 with brain amyloid-β levels, memory performance, and sex in subjective memory complainers

01 Pubblicazione su rivista
Vergallo A., Lista S., Lemercier P., Chiesa P. A., Zetterberg H., Blennow K., Potier M. -C., Habert M. -O., Baldacci F., Cavedo E., Caraci F., Dubois B., Hampel H., Bakardjian H., Benali H., Bertin H., Bonheur J., Boukadida L., Boukerrou N., Chiesa P., Colliot O., Dubois M., Epelbaum S., Gagliardi G., Genthon R., Houot M., Kas A., Lamari F., Levy M., Metzinger C., Mochel F., Nyasse F., Poisson C., Revillon M., Santos A., Andrade K. S., Sole M., Surtee M., de Schotten M. T., Younsi N., Afshar M., Aguilar L. F., Akman-Anderson L., Arenas J., Avila J., Babiloni C., Batrla R., Benda N., Black K. L., Bokde A. L. W., Bonuccelli U., Broich K., Cacciola F., Caruso G., Castrillo J., Ceravolo R., Corbo M., Corvol J. -C., Cuello A. C., Cummings J. L., Depypere H., Duggento A., Emanuele E., Escott-Price V., Federoff H., Ferretti M. T., Fiandaca M., Frank R. A., Garaci F., Geerts H., Giacobini E., Giorgi F. S., Goetzl E. J., Graziani M., Haberkamp M., Hanisch B., Herholz K., Hernandez F., Imbimbo B. P., Kapogiannis D., Karran E., Kiddle S. J., Kim S. H., Koronyo Y., Koronyo-Hamaoui M., Langevin T., Lehericy S., Llavero F., Lorenceau J., Lucia A., Mango D., Mapstone M., Neri C., Nistico R., O'bryant S. E., Palermo G., Perry G., Ritchie C., Rossi S., Saidi A., Santarnecchi E., Schneider L. S., Sporns O., Toschi N., Valenzuela P. L., Vellas B., Verdooner S. R., Villain N., Giudici K. V., Watling M., Welikovitch L. A., Woodcock J., Younesi E., Zugaza J. L.
ISSN: 0197-4580

Neuroinflammation, a key early pathomechanistic alteration of Alzheimer's disease, may represent either a detrimental or a compensatory mechanism or both (according to the disease stage). YKL-40, a glycoprotein highly expressed in differentiated glial cells, is a candidate biomarker for in vivo tracking neuroinflammation in humans. We performed a longitudinal study in a monocentric cohort of cognitively healthy individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease exploring whether age, sex, and the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele affect plasma YKL-40 concentrations. We investigated whether YKL-40 is associated with brain amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, neuronal activity, and neurodegeneration as assessed via neuroimaging biomarkers. Finally, we investigated whether YKL-40 may predict cognitive performance. We found an age-associated increase of YKL-40 and observed that men display higher concentrations than women, indicating a potential sexual dimorphism. Moreover, YKL-40 was positively associated with memory performance and negatively associated with brain Aβ deposition (but not with metabolic signal). Consistent with translational studies, our results suggest a potentially protective effect of glia on incipient brain Aβ accumulation and neuronal homeostasis.

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