Magnetic Resonance and Single‐Photon Emission Tomography Findings in a Pair of Twins Discordant for Alzheimer's Disease

Geroldi, Cristina; Frisoni, Giovanni B.; Beltramello, Alberto; Weiß, Claudia; Bianchetti, Angelo; Pizzolato, G.; Ferlin, G; Trabucchi, Marco

doi:10.1111/jon19966276

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In neuropsychological tests, the demented twin showed extensive deterioration, while the healthy co-twin had a milder cognitive decline. However, in the study of Geroldi et al [36] with 1 monozygotic twin pair discordant for AD, SPECT showed pathological cortical perfusion in the unaffected twin, who had neither neuropsychological changes nor any atrophy in the medial temporal lobes in MRI. Thus, impaired cerebral metabolism or blood flow has been reported to either precede or follow the neuropsychological impairment in non-demented co-twins.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Alzheimer’s Disease

Järvenpää

Räihä

Kaprio

et al. 2003

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

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We investigated regional cerebral glucose metabolic rates (rCMRgluc) with positron emission tomography using 2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) in 7 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ten healthy volunteers with comparable mean age and educational level served as controls. In the hippocampus, the mean ± SD rCMRgluc were 0.20 ± 0.03 µmol/ml/min for the demented twins, 0.21 ± 0.03 µmol/ml/min for their non-demented co-twins, and 0.23 ± 0.02 µmol/ml/min for the controls. The mean hippocampal rCMRgluc was reduced in the demented twins (p = 0.006), compared with the controls. In the lateral temporal cortex, the mean ± SD rCMRgluc were 0.27 ± 0.05, 0.28 ± 0.04, and 0.32 ± 0.02 µmol/ml/min, respectively. These mean rates were reduced both in the demented (p = 0.02) and the non-demented (p = 0.01) twins, compared with the controls. In conclusion, in the demented twins, the reduction of rCMRgluc was detected in the hippocampus and lateral temporal cortex, i.e. the 2 brain areas which show early changes in pathological and imaging studies in AD. Their non-demented co-twins showed milder reductions, which may be an indication of genetic susceptibility for dementia, and an early sign of a dementing illness in them.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Alzheimer’s Disease

Järvenpää

Räihä

Kaprio

et al. 2003

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

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“…The FDG-PET showed diminished metabolic rate throughout the brain in the AD twin, with temporal hypometabolism and asymmetry. A third MZ case study of an AD discordant pair reported that both twins showed pathological cortical perfusion as measured with single-photon emission tomography, whereas medial temporal lobe atrophy was seen only in the affected twin ( Geroldi et al 1996 ). More recently, also Fumagalli et al (2019 ) reported a case study with CT and MRI, where both twins showed asymmetric atrophy that was more pronounced in the left hemisphere.…”

Section: From Case Reports To Studies On Discordant Twin Pairsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-twin design in brain imaging—review on biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

2023

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Twin samples allow to conduct a quasi-experimental co-twin case–control approach that can control for genetic and environmental confounding in brain–cognition associations, being more informative on causality compared with studies in unrelated individuals. We conducted a review of studies that have utilized discordant co-twin design to investigate the associations of brain imaging markers of Alzheimer's disease and cognition. Inclusion criteria encompassed twin pairs discordant for cognition or Alzheimer's disease imaging markers and reporting of within-twin pair comparison on the association between cognition and brain measures. Our PubMed search (2022 April 23, updated 2023 March 9) resulted in 18 studies matching these criteria. Alzheimer's disease imaging markers have been addressed only by few studies, most with small sample size. Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies have indicated greater hippocampal volume and thicker cortex in co-twins with better cognitive performance compared with their co-twins with poorer cognitive performance. No studies have looked at cortical surface area. Positron emission tomography imaging studies have suggested that lower cortical glucose metabolism rate and higher cortical neuroinflammation, amyloid, and tau accumulations are related to poorer episodic memory in within-twin pair comparisons. Thus far, only cross-sectional within-twin pair associations of cortical amyloid and hippocampal volume with cognition have been replicated.

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Magnetic Resonance and Single‐Photon Emission Tomography Findings in a Pair of Twins Discordant for Alzheimer's Disease

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Alzheimer’s Disease

Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Alzheimer’s Disease

Co-twin design in brain imaging—review on biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

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